If Donald Trump had posted his latest video yesterday it would have bought him a lot of credit, unfortunately. The fact that he released it this evening is a measure of just how tenuous his position has become. Two events from just the last couple hours demonstrate why. We now learn that a Capitol Police officer was beaten to death by his insurrectionist supporters. And now The Wall Street Journal editorial page, even in advance of that news, has called for him to resign or be impeached.
Insurrection In The Capitol: So Many Questions Remain After DC Siege
As the dust, and tear gas, settles after a mob of violent insurrectionists laid siege to the United States Capitol, many questions remain outstanding. Why were the Capitol Police so outmanned? Who exactly was behind the order to finally send in the National Guard to help quell the uprising? Who were the individuals who led the charge — other than Trump himself — and how will they be held to account?
We’ll be piecing together more information throughout the day. Follow the TPM staff’s coverage below:
The President Had Help Inspiring A Would-Be Coup
What is there to say about a President so desperate to maintain power that he directs his supporters to swamp the legislature and “fight” for him?
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How Far Did Mike Pence Step Into Trump’s Leadership Vacuum During Riot?
There’s still a key mystery at the heart of Wednesday’s assault on the Capitol: What was Vice President Mike Pence’s role in deploying the D.C. National Guard?
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Growing Danger
We’re seeing a growing number of reports which suggest that top members of the President’s administration are simply avoiding the President or ignoring him. It’s possible the President is in such a mental state that he’s not giving anyone any orders or that he’s already given ones that have been refused. (Again, trying to piece together the pieces of evidence about mobilizing the National Guard yesterday.) The President only has to watch television right now to know that there’s a growing likelihood he’ll face criminal charges for the events of the last 48 hours, let alone things which may have happened over the last four years. That certainly terrifies this President. Yet he has 13 more days with the vast powers of the President to act out on what he is likely experiencing as an existential threat and a consuming rage against those who believes have betrayed him. This is to put it mildly a highly dangerous and unstable situation.
Behind The Putsch: Video Of Trumps Jamming To ‘Gloria’ Before Inciting Mob
The late Laura Branigan’s legacy manager is not happy.
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DC’s Top Federal Prosecutor Doesn’t Rule Out Probing Trump Remarks That Drove Capitol Mob
Acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Michael Sherwin did not rule out the possibility on Thursday that President Trump would be investigated for comments he made egging on the Trump-supporting rioters who overran the Capitol on Wednesday.
Woman Shot During Riot Imbibed Steady Stream Of Trump World Conspiracy Theories
Ashli Babbitt, the woman shot by Capitol Police as she and other pro-Trump rioters tried to force their way deeper into the building Wednesday, appeared to consume a steady diet of heavily conspiratorial beliefs from all corners of the MAGA-verse.
Continue reading “Woman Shot During Riot Imbibed Steady Stream Of Trump World Conspiracy Theories”
Yesterday Was Just The Beginning
This article is part of TPM Cafe, TPM’s home for opinion and news analysis.
One of the most striking images yesterday was of a crowd of pro-Trump insurrectionists entering the Capitol for the first time, ambling about between the velvet ropes as if they were tourists, awed by the majesty of the building and contemplating dinner later on at Western Sizzlin’. Their wandering — not directed or motivated, seemingly without any plan for what to do after they got into the building — indicates a profound disbelief that they could ever be successful. It seems clear that no one, except Donald Trump and perhaps Rudy Giuliani, actually believed the mob would gain entry to the Capitol and delay the certification of the presidential election, least of all the rioters themselves. That disbelief is now dispelled.
This Is Where to Look
TPM Reader JB, a former Hill staffer, is 100% right. A serious threat to the Capitol would never have been left to the Capitol Police. The failure is almost certainly rooted in the fact that federal law enforcement and the military were reluctant to plan for a threat from the President’s own supporters.
To your correspondent BK’s comments today I have to add the point that a serious threat to the Capitol — which yesterday’s riot certainly was — would never have been left to the Capitol Police alone had it been foreseen.