COMMENTS
Donald Trump is eventually killed by his loved ones. Even Ivanka got enough.
DANGEROUS WITNESS: Many of Trump’s closest associates testify about what happened after the presidential election in 2020 and until the attack on Congress. Former Attorney General William Barr’s testimony was devastating. He called Trump’s allegations of electoral fraud “bullshit” and “utterly nonsense.”
Video images via Ap
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Internal comments: This is a comment. The commentary expresses the writer’s attitude.
Published
Wednesday, June 15, 2022 – 7:15 p.m.
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Was Donald Trump of all time cheat or just as tear terribly crazy as we thought he was? Or maybe even more dangerous, a blissful mix. I write “we” with the danger that my regular Trump fans will protest in the inbox as usual, but there is no doubt that most Norwegians and Europeans viewed the phenomenon of Trump with shock and disbelief, some also with recognition.
Now his closest relatives, both family and advisers, say that the impression from the outside was not so far away from the madness on the inside. The last few weeks, after the election, were, if possible, even crazier than anyone could have imagined. The committee and the witnesses simply cannot agree on whether the president had lost his grip on reality, or whether Trump was a cynical liar who defrauded his voters and tried to commit coups.
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After two hearings In the January 6 committee, which has been investigating the attack on Congress almost a year and a half ago, Trump’s big lie about electoral fraud has been emphatically torn apart, and with the help of his own. The witnesses are mainly people from the inner circle, such as his daughter Ivanka, Minister of Justice William Barr, campaign manager Bill Stepien and lawyer Rudy Giuliani. The latter wanted Trump to declare that he had won before the votes were counted. Everyone else begged him to wait. Who was Trump listening to? As usual the only one in the room who said what he wanted to hear, a visibly intoxicated and unsteady Giuliani. Defeat was not an option.
The hearings are shocking to follow. Witnesses do not put their fingers in the box when describing Trump’s erratic behavior. Bullshit, says Barr about the allegation of widespread electoral fraud. Absolutely nuts, says a legal adviser about the many bizarre lawsuits and lawyers who filed them. Stepien says that he considered himself “both honest and professional”. Trump’s election campaign was neither.
The committee wants to prove that Trump knew what he was doing; it was a coup “in search of a legal theory”, as it was said. At least there was no shortage of opposition from those who were eventually called “Team normal” in the White House. Barr benevolently opens up another possibility, that Trump simply lost his grip on reality. At the same time, he explains that Trump’s behavior these weeks was completely in line with the way he always behaved, calling the president’s penchant for incoherent monologues “trumpologists”.
It is also not surprising that a rowdy businessman, notorious for lying, cutting corners and suing people, takes behavior to new heights in an even more powerful position as president. But the committee will not be content to prove that Trump lied to prevent a peaceful change of power. It will also document a direct link between Trump’s camp and the far-right groups Oath Keepers and Proud Boys who led the attack on Congress. It is known that a leader of the Proud Boys called the Oval Office directly and asked to speak to Trump. Three leaders have also admitted in previous trials that the goal was to stop the installation of Biden. 70 people have been convicted of the attack so far.
Will the hearings make an impression on others than those who already thought the worst about Trump? Fox News did not show the first hearing, but turned around and broadcast the second. The hearings have had record-breaking ratings, more than 20 million viewers, and there are twice as many as, for example, the finals in the NBA and American Idol. The committee naturally wants to reach the many loyal Trump voters who have so far not been able to move. 66 percent of them believe in the big lie about election fraud.
If they can never be convinced that Joe Biden won the election superiorly and is the rightful president, then they may care that Trump cheated them for money. After the election, Trump asked for money for the “Official election defense fund”, which was to fund investigations and lawsuits. He received as much as 250 million dollars. But the fund did not exist. Instead, millions went to various causes controlled by Trump and some of his closest associates.
“It was a coup attempt”
It was easy to become speed blind under Trump; eventually shrugging off behaviors that initially shocked an entire world. That the hearing manages to shock again is almost an achievement in itself. The thorough and devastating documentation, the many testimonies from those closest to him, say that the unthinkable almost succeeded. It’s good for history that some people finally choose to tell the truth, but Trump’s many aides waited dangerously long.
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