Last night’s prime time hearing of the January 6 Committee served to organize in the public’s mind the timing of the precise events that occurred in the White House before, during, and following the storming of the Capitol. There was some new footage and interviews which were presented to confirm and corroborate the Committee’s previous public hearings. There were, nevertheless, several important observations which had emerged this past week and were confirmed last night during the hearing. Curiously, these more subtle comments were extremely suggestive of similar behaviors which were first revealed during the Watergate Hearings. Both of these revelations suggested, or confirmed that major foul play occurred in the White House and was conducted by the Secret Service on January 6th and thereafter.
First, there are texts of conversations between members of the Secret Service (USSS) during and following the period of President Trump’s speech at the ellipse which no longer exist. According to the National Archives several hours of records and/or recording of USSS conversations have disappeared. The fact that the recordings are missing has caused the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to take over this investigation and elevate it to the highest level.
So far, the USSS has acknowledged that conversations between agents on the presidential detail on January 6 are missing, appear to have been wiped out, and are irretrievable. The fallout from the Cassidy Hutchison’s testimony already had made it clear that present and especially former Secret Service agents were now serving in White House positions working directly in or with the chief of staff’s office. There was a clear suggestion during and following her testimony that some of the USSS detail were demonstrative supporters of President Trump. This explains why the report of President Trump’s behavior in the car following the ellipse rally was so confused and contradictory. The fact that the National Archives is unable to produce the recordings suggests that someone(s) had access to and erased the recordings.
A similar revelation emerged during last night’s hearings concerning the disappearance of Trump’s White House telephone logs from the afternoon of January 6th after he returned to the White House and watched the storming of the Capitol on television. No pictures were taken of the President during that time and the logs of any calls he made over three hours do not exist. It was noted that he had requested telephone numbers of Members of Congress but the records of whom the President called while the Capitol was under siege are missing. This is inexplicable—except if they too were removed, erased, and eliminated. There was an assumption that in all likelihood these conversations were made to Republican Senators and supporters. If this is determined, it could be revealing and incriminating both for President Trump as well as his respondents.
Both of these actions suggest nefarious intent. They also expose signs of one of the most dangerous aspects of the Trump Administration which until now had not been obvious; the presence of possible private, police or para-military authorities loyal to Trump. In authoritarian regimes, the leader is serviced and surrounded by secret police, military officers, private militia, and vigilante groups. They owe their allegiance to the leader and not the country, the State, or the law. If such people are determined to have been functioning in the Trump White House, there is a major, additional level of criminal activity being committed by Trump and his Administration.
Watergate—the break-in and the cover-up—had its lawbreakers and criminals. The goals of the Watergate burglars and the organizers was political; to undermine the Democratic Party’s plans for the 1972 election. It was not a challenge to the integrity of the U.S. Government and the disregard of the Constitution. The January 6th Hearings have confirmed once again that Donald Trump did not believe he needed to abide by the rule of law and his followers—both in the street and in the Congress—were prepared to acquiesce to his conduct. Even Senator Barry Goldwater—a committed Republican—was not prepared to defend or accept President Nixon’s cover-up of a “third-rate burglary”. Where are the Republicans today who are prepared to connect the dots of the January 6th insurrection and hold Trump accountable?
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