Members of the House committee that investigated the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol have warned America for three years to take former President Donald Trump at his word.
Now, as Trump is poised to win the Republican presidential nomination, his criminal trials face delays that could stall them past Election Day, and his rhetoric grows increasingly authoritarian, some of those lawmakers find themselves following their own advice.
In mid-March, Trump said on social media that the committee members should be jailed. In December he vowed to be a dictator on “day one.” In August, he said he would “have no choice” but to lock up his political opponents.
“If he intends to eliminate our constitutional system and start arresting his political enemies, I guess I would be on that list,” said Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-San Jose). “One thing I did learn on the committee is to pay attention and listen to what Trump says, because he means it.”
Lofgren added that she doesn’t yet have a plan in place to thwart potential retribution by Trump. But Rep. Adam B. Schiff (D-Burbank), who has long been a burr in Trump’s side, said he’s having “real-time conversations” with his staff about how to make sure he stays safe if Trump follows through on his threats.
“We’re taking this seriously, because we have to,” Schiff said. “We’ve seen this movie before … and how perilous it is to ignore what someone is saying when they say they want to be a dictator.”
Non-American just double-checking I’ve got his right…
Private citizen makes actionable credible threat to unlawfully detain legislators, legislators choose to do nothing for about half a year before slowly murmuring without specifics other than “yeah he said it” and “I think he means us”.
You OK USA? Just checking in.
Going after Trump for his crimes would set a precedent for going after the rest of them for their crimes. It’s in their interests to not open that door.
There is, unfortunately, no law against saying you’re going to be a power abusing jackass. And the Republicans have decided that if he gets into office, they’ll protect him from impeachment and removal no matter what. His lawyers have literally argued that the president can order assassinations of their political rivals.
So no, we’re not okay.
I see. I should have my lawyers argue buying a $1,000,000 house for $0 is reasonable, that way a deal for $500,000 is perfectly reasonable. In the same way that threatening to illegally detain is a halfway compromise between nothing and threatening murder.
And it seems that imprisoning political opponents goes beyond carting down a hill in a shopping trolley which is what we here overseas associate with “jackass”, but what do I know.
wow, this trump guy seems scary 😳 i wonder what the democrats are doing to stop him
Well they are supporting a genocide in Gaza, that should help convince people to vote for them right?
The diaspora of the crusaders are their primary funding source without which they will lose for sure against the unlimited funding from Russia and the criminal billionaire oligarchy. It pays to privateer.
Not justifying it.
the funding from russia is NOT unlimited. i work day and night to ensure hillary will lose to biden, and putin is barely paying me a living wage
They’re preparing to do what? Tut tut and issue a statement? Impeach him a third time and fail again to remove him from office? The Democrats don’t believe in anything
If they actually believed Trump is the next Pinochet they’d hire someone to kill him. Or they’d go after one of the legit crimes he did rather than anything he’ll just slip out of. Biden could get the national guard to burn down Mar-a-lago but he won’t.
They don’t actually believe in anything. They’re spineless dorks who want to pretend they’re saving democracy or whatever. It’s all theater to these people. In fact, they probably want Trump to win so their districts will throw more money at Democratic fundraisers. What a bunch of goofy nerd libs.
Dork and nerd here. Please dont lump us in with those plutocratic assholes. They are not dorks nor nerds.
Invertebrate slime? I could call them a bunch of stuff. I mean to say the Democrats are cowards who have no beliefs except cynicism. I don’t mean to catch anyone in the crossfire. If you’re into coding or Gundam or something that’s cool, don’t worry, I don’t mean you. I own an entire shelf of manga and I repair cassette tape players so I’m a dork too.
“We’re taking this seriously”
Then why have they not arrested (and hopefully executed) Trump and most of his toadies yet? Seems like they’re not that serious.
B-but then we’re just as bad as them
How is arresting a fascist bad you ask? Uhhhhhh
America has executed tens or hundreds of thousands of black and brown people all over the world, without trial, for much lesser acts of alleged terrorism than publicly threatening to kidnap US legislators.
Yes. And that doesn’t justify us killing their politicians. It does justify sending them to the ICC.
Either Trump is an existential threat that requires the strongest possible response, or he’s just another corrupt asshole in a country dominated by others like him.
And before you go “but America doesn’t do that sort of thing!”, I’d encourage you to look up Fred Hampton.
I’m familiar with COINTELPRO and more recent black sites used by CPD.
My point is that we shouldn’t sink to their level. We can neutralize the threat of a wanna-be dictator man child without murder. The man is sick and he deserves to be treated for his illness.
Doesn’t treason carry the death penalty? If they seriously think he’s going to become a dictator and end democracy, he should be killed. The US government has had 0 problem doing it to leaders of other countries who did far less; why should Trump get special treatment? Just because he’s a rich white guy? Hell, they’ve even set precedent under Obama that it’s legal to drone strike US citizens on foreign soil for being terrorists. Get him next time he leaves the country.
Can we instead join the ranks of most countries and not do capital punishment?
Just disqualify him from becoming a public servant, and lock the man in a nice prison with access to educational programs and other social services. He needs a good history teacher and therapist.
Also, yes, stop all funding to the military and send the generals and their henchmen to the ICC to see if they should receive the same treatment.
Adam B. Schiff (D-Burbank), who has long been a burr in Trump’s side, said he’s having “real-time conversations” with his staff about how to make sure he stays safe
Bro will absolutely let himself be jailed under belief that the system works and everything will turn out okay lmao