Despite overwhelming evidence that we were under massive cyberattack by the Russians, Donald Trump downplayed their role, suggesting that it may have been China instead, and (as an aside) raised the possibility that the attack could have involved the election. (It didn’t.)
Unfortunately, this was not close to the weirdest thing that happened over the weekend.
At a raucous White House meeting, Trump and his inner circle let their freak flags fly, entertaining one crazy idea after another to overturn the election.
Trump considered naming Kraken lawyer Sidney Powell as a special counsel to investigate voter fraud (which was insane enough), but also discussed issuing an executive order to seize voting machines in several states. ( Rudy Giuliani also made a remarkable phone call to suggest that the Department of Homeland Security seize voting machines — an idea shot down by Ken Cuccinelli).
And, reported the Times, recently pardoned felon Michael Flynn was also at the meeting.
During an appearance on the conservative Newsmax channel this week, Mr. Flynn pushed for Mr. Trump to impose martial law and deploy the military to “rerun” the election. At one point in the meeting on Friday, Mr. Trump asked about that idea.
Wait. Back up.
The president asked about what? I had a question about this story:
Charlie Sykes @SykesCharlie
Why is the headline here not: TRUMP RAISES POSSIBILITY OF MILITARY COUP? t.co
Maggie Haberman @maggieNYT
During the meeting, the president asked about Flynn’s suggestion of deploying the military, those briefed said. That was also shot down.
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
e increasingly isolated, paranoid president who refuses to concede, and continues to flood the zone with conspiracy theories, fabrications, and baseless allegations, is asking about the possibility of imposing martial law?
And that’s in paragraph 6?
As Max Boot notes, “Never before in U.S. history has there been a record of a president discussing a military coup to stay in office. Is there any doubt that if Trump could find any active-duty generals willing to carry out this plot against America, he would give it the go-ahead? In this instance, all that is preserving the Constitution is the military’s fidelity to the rule of law.”
So, yes, this seemed like kind of a BFD. The very fact that Flynn was in the room was a red flag. This was the suggestion that won Flynn an invitation to the White House meeting:
'' could immediately on his order seize every single one of these machines around the country on his order. He could also order, within the swing states, if he wanted to, he could take military capabilities and he could place them in those states and basically rerun an election in each of those states. It’s not unprecedented,'' Flynn added.
Trump was interested. And that seems to be part of a pattern of behavior that is rattling even his most cynically loyal aides. Jonathan Swan reported over the weekend:
Senior Trump administration officials are increasingly alarmed that President Trump might unleash — and abuse — the power of government in an effort to overturn the clear result of the election.
Why it matters: These officials tell me that Trump is spending too much time with people they consider crackpots or conspiracy theorists and flirting with blatant abuses of power.
This seems understandable, since, as one Trump insider told Swan, when Trump is "retweeting threats of putting politicians in jail, and spends his time talking to conspiracy nuts who openly say declaring martial law is no big deal, it’s impossible not to start getting anxious about how this ends."
"People who are concerned and nervous aren’t the weak-kneed bureaucrats that we loathe," a rattled aide told Swan. "These are people who have endured arguably more insanity and mayhem than any administration officials in history."
Maggie Haberman is hearing the same thing:
Maggie Haberman @maggieNYT
Sources who have gotten used to Trump’s eruptions over four years sound scared by what’s transpired in the past week when I’ve talked to them.
Jonathan Swan @jonathanvswan
"People who are concerned and nervous aren’t the weak-kneed bureaucrats that we loathe," the official added. "These are people who have endured arguably more insanity and mayhem than any administration officials in history." https://t.co/NxjC0sUrzI
December 19th 2020
3,019 Retweets9,982 Likes
If only they had been warned.
As Peter Wehner writes:
None of this should come as a surprise. Some of us said, even before he became president, that Donald Trump’s Rosetta Stone, the key to deciphering him, was his psychology—his disordered personality, his emotional and mental instability, and his sociopathic tendencies. It was the main reason, though hardly the only reason, I refused to vote for him in 2016 or in 2020, despite having worked in the three previous Republican administrations. Nothing that Trump has done over the past four years has caused me to rethink my assessment, and a great deal has happened to confirm it.
Meanwhile, the taste for martial law and a little sedition continues to spread throughout the MAGAverse.
Christian Vanderbrouk @UrbanAchievr
Arizona GOP chair Kelli Ward calls on Trump to “Cross the Rubicon” 
December 20th 2020
482 Retweets1,359 Likes
It is unclear whether Kelli Ward understands the historical reference here. But Roman law forbad generals from crossing the Rubicon River into Italy with an army. Julius Caesar's crossing of the Rubicon lead to a Civil War that made Caesar dictator.
And then there is Georgia attorney Lin Wood, echoing Flynn:
Why Minnesota? Probably because his biggest sugar daddy is the My Pillow Guy, who was chair of Trump’s campaign in the Gopher State.
David Frum
@davidfrum
Plotting a military coup seems like the kind of behaviour that impeachment and removal were invented for
December 19th 2020
The obvious objections are… well, obvious. Time is short, and nobody has an appetite for this with a just a few weeks to go. It’s also not clear that merely raising a question constitutes an impeachable offense.
But…
We are clearly in dangerous waters, and no one can be sure what a president desperate to hold onto power and terrified of defeat might be capable of attempting. What actual checks remain?
We can hope for institutional resistance to any attempt to impose martial law. But if we have learned anything, it is that many of the checks on presidential power are, more or less, on an honor system. He has virtually unlimited pardon power; he has technical control of the DOJ; and he remains commander-in chief of the armed forces.
All of this is by way of saying that bad things can happen. And to remind ourselves that there are really only three decisive checks on a president run amok: (1) the 25th Amendment, (2) impeachment and removal, and (3) defeat at the ballot box.
Trump is (so far) undeterred by electoral defeat and, practically speaking, the 25th Amendment is a dead letter, because it relies on his own hand-picked toadies. Which leaves the alternative of impeachment, a process that is admittedly impractical.
But, what if…
What if Trump did try to declare martial law? Seize voting machines? Attempt to deploy the military? What stops him? Anything?
Indignant editorials? Outraged segments on cable tv? Firmly worded emails from Marco Rubio?
Or the threat that he might actually be removed from office and made ineligible for any future election?
Does this mean impeaching him again? Not necessarily. But, perhaps, an impeachment should be in the queue ready to go.
At a minimum, someone should be thinking about the ultimate Trumpsday scenario, and start drafting the articles that could be quickly acted upon (maybe with snap votes in both the House and Senate?).
The smart set has been telling us that we don’t have anything to worry about. The guardrails will hold, they assure us. There’s no time, they tell us.
But Trump is in the White House talking about coups. Maybe we need to have to the hammer ready to break glass in case of emergency.
thebulwark |
