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REPUBLICANS ARE TRYING TO BULLY THEIR WAY OUT OF ACCOUNTABILITY FOR JANUARY 6
Donald Trump had a habit of issuing vague threats that, in their hazy, overheated menace, usually sounded like something a childs idea of a tough guy might say. These comminations were often too strange, too difficult to parse to intimidate as the former president intended. And yet, they still inspired alarm for what they revealedor affirmedabout the mental state of the man who was leading the nation. He may have thought he was sending a message to the people investigating him and his campaign; in reality, though, he was basically typing all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy over and over, in different configurations, onto his Twitter feed.
Facing their own investigation into their culpability for the January 6 riot their boss incited, the GOP has adopted this same, embarrassing bully tacticand, as when Trump himself deployed the strategy, the scariest thing about it is what it underscores about the kookiness and cravenness of those doing the threatening. On Monday, the House panel investigating the pro-Trump attack on Capitol Hill called on phone companies to preserve communications records related to January 6, including, perhaps, those of Trump and some Republican lawmakers. That outraged members of the GOP like Marjorie Taylor Greene, who told Tucker Carlson on Tuesday that telecommunications companies will be shut down if they comply with requests from Representative Bennie Thompson, the chair of the select committee probing the riot.
(snip)
The threat was not limited to the ever-expanding fringes of the party, where Greene and other MAGA acolytes thrive. Hours earlier, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, one of the most powerful Republicans in Washington, handed down his own ominous warning to the companies, tweeting that a Republican majority will not forget if they cooperate with the committee request. Its hard to know what, exactly, that means, how the GOP would go about punishing private companies for obeying a congressional subpoena, or how doing so would not constitute a far greater government overreach than the one they claim Democrats are committing. The idea here isnt really to make sense, though; in fact, logic and clarity would only detract from the aim of such threats, which is to flood the zone with shit, as Trump strategist Steve Bannon once explained, until efforts to hold people accountable and efforts to evade accountability seem indistinguishable from one another. Russian Collusion Hoax 2.0, Congressman Mo Brooks, one of the chief instigators of the January 6 attack, tweeted Monday. Why not subpoena Socialists who support BLM & ANTIFA?
(snip)
Thompson brushed off the warning by McCarthy, whose communications with Trump on January 6 may be of interest to the panel. The committees efforts wont be deterred by those who want to whitewash or cover up the events of January 6th, or obstruct our investigation, his panel said in a statement. But its not the daffy intimidation campaign that should worry him or his congressional investigatorsits the prospect that, as with other Trump probes, whatever malfeasance they uncover could be drowned out by all the noise.
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2021/09/majorie-taylor-greene-kevin-mccarthy-republicans-january-6
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REPUBLICANS ARE TRYING TO BULLY THEIR WAY OUT OF ACCOUNTABILITY FOR JANUARY 6 (Original Post)
Uncle Joe
Sep 2021
OP
cutroot
(869 posts)1. One trick ponies
lees1975
(3,726 posts)2. Wouldn't making a threat like that be illegal?
It tells you where it's headed. But how can he make that kind of threat and still have his seat? He should be removed constitutionally.
Uncle Joe
(58,112 posts)3. I would think so.
McCarthy's actions are de facto obstructing a lawful investigation.
fwvinson
(488 posts)4. SO, WE NEED TO BE LOUDER
BY ENFORCING THE LAW. GET THIS INVESTIGATION GOING AND IN FRONT OF THE PEOPLE!!