Monday, January 2, 2023

Jan 6 document release (more)

Trump lawyers strategized which federal courts would be likeliest to uphold their fringe constitutional theories; Trump White House aides battled to keep unhinged theories from reaching the president’s ears; as the Jan. 6 attack unfolded, West Wing aides sent horrified messages about Trump’s incendiary tweets and inaction; and after the attack, some Trump allies discussed continued efforts to derail the incoming Biden administration.

[...]

The select committee posted Trump’s complete White House call logs from Jan. 2, Jan. 3 and Jan. 5, 2021 — each reflecting the then-president’s intense focus on remaining in power.

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On Jan. 3, Trump’s call logs reflect a flurry of contacts with top Justice Department officials as he contemplated elevating Jeffrey Clark to acting attorney general — a figure he viewed as sympathetic to his bid to stay in power. Trump spoke to Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.) that afternoon just before the call logs reflect Clark actually being elevated, however briefly, to the top DOJ post. But the move didn’t hold. The threat of a mass resignation by DOJ leaders prompted Trump to back away from the plan.

[...]

“Jan. 6 is a dangerous idea,” [Utah Senator Mike] Lee said, in a message exchange with [ Trump attorney Cleta] Mitchell that she provided to the select committee. “Not just for the republic itself, but also for the president.”

Lee lamented that no court or state authority had backed Trump’s effort, so he didn’t view Congress as an appropriate backstop.

[...]

Trump aide Hope Hicks texted with Ivanka Trump’s chief of staff Julie Radford on the afternoon of Jan. 6, decrying Trump’s actions and lamenting that their careers were likely doomed.

“All of us that didn’t have jobs lined up will be perpetually unemployed. I’m so mad and upset,” Hicks wrote. “We all look like domestic terrorists now.”

“Oh yes I’ve been crying for an hour,” Radford replied.

“Not being dramatic but looks like we are all fucked,” Hicks continued.

[...]

Hicks expressed outrage about [Trump's] attack on Vice President Mike Pence in the midst of the violence. “Wtf is wrong with him?” she wrote.

  Politico
Hicks had been closely involved with Trump for years. Did she really not know?
[General Mark] Milley’s 300-page interview transcript is jammed with some of the most explosive news of the Jan. 6 committee’s entire investigation. In one exchange [...] he said he had to dissuade Trump administration figures from a suggestion that retired military officers who wrote op-eds critical of Trump should be recalled and court-martialed.
...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

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