(TUE 7/12/22)
To indict, or to let him go … Should the Justice Department prepare charges against former President Donald J. Trump in connection to the January 6 Capitol insurrection? Seditious conspiracy? Obstruction of justice?
Or should he be let off the hook?
Hold on; It’s not that easy a question for progressives or for never-Trump conservatives, who lately have been expressing fear Trump will become (more of) a martyr among his minions if he is prosecuted. Never-Trump pundits worry such potential prosecution will help, not hurt, his almost inevitable 2024 run.
Your opinion?: Does the Justice Department have the evidence to go after Trump, or is the potential for (more) martyrdom not worth it?
Hit the Comments button on any of these columns or email us at editors@thehustings.news.
New time: The 1/6 committee reset its schedule for Tuesday’s hearing, moving it back three hours to 1 p.m. Eastern time.
Bannon not in the clear: Despite his about-face on agreeing to testifying before the 1/6 panel, former Trump advisor Steve Bannon has not been let off the hook for his court appearance on contempt of Congress charges from his earlier refusal. U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols has ordered Bannon to appear in court next week and has also banned him from asserting several defenses or from calling House members, including Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) to the stand, The Baltimore Sun reports.
Graham too: Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) has been ordered to testify before a special grand jury investigating Trump’s alleged attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election by Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney, Reuters reports. Graham is scheduled to testify August 2.
--Todd Lassa
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The Week that Will Be
(MON 7/11/22)
Next hearing … of the United States Select Committee to Investigate the January 6 Attack on the United States Capitol is Tuesday at 10 a.m. Eastern. A second, and potentially final, public hearing may be scheduled for prime time this Thursday, according to NPR. Watch this space for more coverage during the week.
Last Friday, the committee heard behind closed doors from former White House counsel Pat Cipollone, who “corroborated key elements” of last Tuesday’s testimony by Cassidy Hutchinson, aide to then-Chief of Staff Mark Meadows (per Newsweek). Committee member Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) told CNN’s State of the Union that clips of Cipollone’s testimony will be played during this week’s public hearings.
Cipollone invoked executive privilege to some of the panel’s questions, according to CNN, but 1/6 panel spokesman Tim Mulvey issued a statement saying there were no agreements during the interview to limit questioning because of executive privilege.
Speaking of which, Lofgren also told CNN that Steve Bannon, the former White House aide and consultant to Donald J. Trump, has executed an “about face,” reversing his claim of executive privilege (to which he was not entitled), and will now comply with a 1/6 committee subpoena.
Not coincidentally, this comes a couple of weeks after Trump reignited his attacks on Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) for failing to get some of his House allies on the panel. Should be quite the interrogation.
This week in the Middle East: President Biden begins with a visit to Israel Wednesday, to advance the Trump administration’s Abraham Accords, according to NPR’s Morning Edition. It is perhaps the only policy from the previous administration, negotiated just a couple of months before the November 2020 presidential election, that the Biden administration embraces.
Biden continues on from Israel to Saudi Arabia, where he had initially planned to confront Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman over the gruesome killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, but now will concentrate instead on increased oil production in order to help lower gas and diesel prices at the pump.
While we were on recess: As Congress enjoyed the week of Independence Day away from Capitol Hill, the latest economic indicators last Friday gave the embattled White House its own sort of break. The Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics reported 372,000 jobs added to the economy in June, a huge number especially compared with economists’ expectations, as the unemployment rate remained steady at 3.6%.
Vacationers on the road found gas prices easing up a bit. As of Sunday, the national average price for regular unleaded gasoline was $4.684 per gallon, a decline of 30.2-cents versus a month ago, AAA says.
EO reaction to Dobbs: Meanwhile, Biden took the first step toward countering the Supreme Court’s 6-3 ruling on Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization which overturned Roe v. Wade, though progressive critics say it’s too little, too late, particularly considering that a draft of Justice Samuel Alito’s 13th Century-inspired opinion was leaked to Politico last May.
The president’s executive order signed last Friday orders the Department of Health and Human Services to expand access to medication abortions and directs the attorney general’s office to help provide legal assistance to those who seek lawful reproductive health services (per The Hill). States cannot ban mifepristone, a drug used to aid abortion, as it its FDA-approved. Under the EO, women suffering medical emergencies such as miscarriages or ectopic pregnancies cannot be denied care. HHS also will expand access to emergency contraception and intrauterine devices (IUDs) and the AG’s office will organize pro bono attorneys to help provide legal representation for patients, providers and third parties.
--Todd Lassa