In the ongoing struggle to save our democracy from the twin toxicities of ignorance and authoritarianism, we need to remember, even as Trump inches closer to indictment, that 147 lawless congressional Republicans refused to certify the free and fair ’20 presidential election – and that virtually all of them are still in office. In other words, the termites are still gnawing our institutional woodwork.
And thanks to stunning new evidence posted last night, their seditious behavior has been even more fully exposed. The big question, of course, is whether any of them will be held accountable.
Talking Points Memo, an online media outlet long respected for its reporting chops, has obtained a massive trove of the text messages that top Trump lieutenant Mark Meadows exchanged with election deniers in the weeks before and after the Jan. 6 insurrection. The highlights (or lowlights) are his 459 exchanges with 34 Republican congressional traitors – but more broadly, TPM reports, “The vast majority of Meadows’ texts…show the senior-most official in the Trump White House communicating with members of Congress, state-level politicians, and far-right activists as they work feverishly to overturn Trump’s loss in the 2020 election.”
Granted, none of that probably sounds shocking, given the broad parameters of what we’ve already learned courtesy of the Jan. 6 Committee. But when we remind ourselves that the Republicans will soon regain majority power in the House, and that high-ranking seditionists like Jim Jordan will soon be helming key committees, the newly-obtained texts take on new urgency. They’re definitely worth reading, if only to infuriate us anew that these people are still running amuck, and will soon double down in their ’23 House of horrors.
Speaking of horrors: Long after Joe Biden’s victory was obvious to the non-insurrectionist American majority, the calls were coming from inside the House. I recommend that you read the copious TPM reports, but I’ll offer a few of the more nauseating nuggets.
Here, for instance, is Pennsylvania congressman Mike Kelly, texting Meadows: “We’re in Philadelphia suing Pa. Sec. of State for her illegal meddling in this election and will continue to expose fraudulent actions. Let me know if there’s anything I can do to fight these MF’ers in Pa.? Our President is heroic!!”
(Pennsylvania’s secretary of state did nothing “illegal,” and there was no way for Kelly to “continue to expose fraudulent actions,” because numerous courts determined there weren’t any. Oh, and the reference to “MF’ers” was a nice touch.)
Here’s a text from Jim Jordan: “On January 6, 2021, Vice President Mike Pence, as President of the Senate, should call out all electoral votes that he believes are unconstitutional as no electoral votes at all.”
(Pence had no evidentiary basis for believing that any of the electoral votes were “unconstitutional,” and acted accordance with the law.)
Here’s a semi-coherent text from Arizona congressman Paul Gosar, who had convinced himself that the Dominion voting machines were corrupted, and that therefore Biden’s win was fraudulent: “China bought Dominion in October for $400 million. If that’s not interference, then should have a report with details and specifics that would validate that either way.”
(Dominion is not owned by China. Congressional Republican Ted Budd, in another text, told Meadows that Dominion was owned by George Soros. These MAGAts couldn’t even agree on the same lie.)
Pennsylvania congressman Scott Perry, one of Meadows’ most prolific pen pals, tried a little bit of everything. He was convinced that an Italian defense contractor had used satellites to switch American votes from Trump to Biden. Here’s Perry: “Why can’t we just work with the Italian government?”
(There was nothing to work with, because the plot didn’t exist.)
Perry also urged Meadows to persuade Bill McSwain, a Trump appointee serving as U.S. attorney for eastern Pennsylvania, to investigate purported statewide election fraud: “What will it take for Bill Mcswain to open an investigation?”
(McSwain refused, because, as numerous courts ruled, there was no PA election fraud.)
Perry also texted: “11 days to 1/6 and 25 days to inauguration. We gotta get going!” shortly before he pushed the idea of crowning Justice Department environmental Jeffrey Clark as the new acting attorney general – who would then tell pro-Biden swing states that their vote tallies were suspicious: “Mark, you should call Jeff. I just got off the phone with him.”
(“Jeff” is currently under federal investigation for possible felonies, and the Jan. 6 Committee reportedly plans to name him in their criminal referrals to DOJ.)
But while Perry insisted that a guy in Italy had fixed votes for Biden, a Georgia congressman named Rick Allen insisted that the purported plot to fix votes for Biden originated in Romania. In a text to Meadows, he shared copious crap he’d seen on YouTube. And when the Romania yarn got no traction, Allen’s last resort was to play the Jesus card. On the eve of the Jan. 6 insurrection, he texted:
“Mark, please know that I have prayed for President Trump, his family, for you and the entire Administration. Our Nation is at war, it is a Spiritual War at the highest level. This is not a war that can be fought conventionally, this is God’s battle and He has used President Trump in a powerful way to expose the deceit, lies and hypocrisy of the enemy. The Trump family and all of us have paid a heavy price to be used by the Father but the War is just beginning….President Trump need to be ministered to, he needs the love that only Jesus Christ offers! This is his opportunity to confess that he can no longer fight this battle alone, he must give it to Christ and Gid almighty will show him the way to victory.”
Meadows, in response: “God bless you.”
And here’s Arizona congressman Andy Biggs, who told Meadows that maybe Republican state legislatures could simply override the will of voters in blue states (I’ve preserved his typos and bad grammar): “I’m sure you have heard of this proposal. It is to encourage the state legislatures to appoint a look doors in the various states where there’s been shenanigans. If I understand right most of those states have Republican Legislature’s…And, well highly controversial, it can’t be much more controversial than the lunacy that were sitting out there now.”
But even after every batty idea went down in flames, South Carolina congressman Ralph Norman had a last-ditch brainstorm. With just three days remaining until Biden was inaugurated, he texted Meadows: “Mark, in seeing what’s happening so quickly, and reading about the Dominion lawsuits attempting to stop any meaningful investigation we are at a point of no return in saving our Republic !! Our LAST HOPE is invoking Marshall Law!! PLEASE URGE TO PRESIDENT TO DO SO!!”
This dunce couldn’t even spell martial law correctly. I am reminded of what the poet Charles Bukowski once said: “The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence.”
What can be done about these people? Section 3 of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution says: “No Person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States…to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof.”
In other words, there are valid grounds to expel them from office. The odds of that happening are predictably nil, but if we successfully fight this extremism at the ballot box, the likely verdict of history will be severe.