I write this as a United States citizen—not a Democrat—not a Republican—but a citizen who cares about the future of our country. If anyone ever doubted that Donald Trump is unfit to reclaim the presidency in 2024, all doubts were erased yesterday after the haunting, chilling, and inspiring testimony delivered by former House GOP staffer, Cassidy Hutchinson.
Conclusively, Trump is unfit and unqualified to serve. As the evidence against the former president continues to mount, Attorney General Merrick Garland must seriously consider indicting Trump, charging him with inciting an insurrection, seditious conspiracy, aiding and abetting malicious destruction of government property, witness tampering, and, perhaps, treason.
I don’t recommend these actions lightly. These are serious charges. However, not since Richard Nixon or Bill Clinton has America experienced presidential criminality in office. Nixon lied and illegally covered up a two-bit break-in; Clinton lied under oath about his sex life. These crimes pale in comparison to things Trump has done or would have done, had Secret Service agents and staff not prevented more serious criminal behavior.
What did we learn from Ms. Hutchinson’s testimony?
We learned that the former president wanted to actively participate in the insurrection. On January 2nd, Rudy Giuliani advised Hutchinson that they were going to the Capitol as part of a plan to keep Trump in office. When she reported this to Meadows, he opined things could get “real, real bad on January 6.”
And on that day, an angry Trump tried to grab the steering wheel of the presidential limousine as it was returning to the Whitehouse after his fiery, insurrection inspiring, morning speech. Why? Because he wanted the driver to take him to the Capitol so he could join in the festivities.
“I’m the f-ing president!” Trump shouted, Hutchinson testified. Secret service agent Bobby Engel countered: “Take your hand off the steering wheel; we’re going back to the West Wing. We’re not going to the Capitol.”
The former president knew the insurrectionists were armed with military-class weapons when he invited them to march on the Capitol. He urged the Secret Service to remove metal detectors at the location of his speech that morning, so his armed supporters could attend. “They’re not here to hurt me; I don’t care if they have f-ing weapons,” Trump said, according to Hutchinson. Ever the narcissist—the danger posed to others did not matter to Donald Trump.
We know that former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn took the 5th rather than testify truthfully before the committee. As it turns out, Chief of Staff Meadows talked to Flynn and Trump buddy, Roger Stone, at Trump’s urging on January 5th, the day before the insurrection. Who instructed Flynn to take the 5th? Both Flynn and Stone received presidential pardons as Trump was walking out the White House door.
As the mob was shouting “hang Mike Pence,” the former president was shouting “he deserves it.” According to Hutchinson, a conversation between Meadows and White House Counsel Pat Cipollone confirmed that Trump openly argued that the mob was doing nothing wrong, even though the insurrectionists were literally calling for Pence to be hung.
Cipollone called Trump’s behavior “crazy,” an interesting observation considering that several Trump cabinet members seriously considered invoking the 25th Amendment. While most public officials would be trying to defuse the violence, Trump tweeted that Pence lacked the courage to overturn the election results, even though he knew his tweet placed Pence in mortal danger. Pence was hastily evacuated from the Capitol within seconds of the tweet.
In 2010, a young Texas man named Brian Dean Miller was sentenced to 27 months in prison without the right of parole. Angry about the Affordable Care Act (of all things) he posted a rant on Craigslist dedicating his life to “the death of Obama and every employee of the federal government.” He was arrested and convicted of the crime of threatening the President.
A person charged with such an offense must convince a jury that the statement was not a credible threat against a President, Vice President, or other government office covered by the applicable statute. What was the speaker’s intent? Would a reasonable person regard them as a threat? What tone was used when the statement was made and what were the reactions of the audience?
If found guilty of making a credible threat against the Vice President (and others), anyone convicted of the crime may face up to five years in prison and/or up to $250,000 in fines. Does anyone reading this doubt that Trump and his minions storming the Capitol were serious about hanging the former Vice President?
We learned that Meadows burned documents related to Trump’s attempt to challenge the election results. Finally, Hutchinson confirmed that both Giuliani and Meadows requested presidential pardons after the January 6th attacks on the Capitol. Hutchinson testified to being “disgusted” by the president’s behavior. “It was really sad. As an American, I was disgusted. It was unpatriotic. It was un-American. You are watching the Capitol building defaced over a lie.”
Citizens of this country, in red States or blue, would be outraged if an unhinged ordinary citizen committed these offenses against the people’s property and public officials. In any other setting, a threat to the life of the vice president of the United States would be dealt with in the harshest of terms. Yet, Trump's apologists everywhere continue to decry the hearings, defend the former president, and encourage him to seek re-election in 2024.
Trump continues to cry (whine?) “witch hunt.” He implores us to not believe our own lying eyes or ears. He attempts to subvert the Justice Department into supporting his claims that the election was stolen. Despite losing the election by 7 million votes and the electoral college in a proverbial landslide (306-232), he is the first president in history to defy the peaceful transition of power. He incited a riot at the Capitol which resulted in five deaths, including a police officer. 140 officers were injured on January 6th, and four of those committed suicide. These deaths and injuries lay at the feet of Donald J. Trump.
Enough already, Donald. You claim to be a patriot—make America great again, and all of that. Demonstrate your patriotism by allowing our country to finally move on from your disastrous four years and the severe damage you continue to inflict. Don’t you own a golf course resort in some far away country? Avoid your inevitable indictment. Flee America, now, to a country with no extradition treaty. Anywhere, so long as we never see or hear from you again.
Mark M. Bello is an attorney and award-winning author of the Zachary Blake Legal Thriller Series, ripped-from-the headlines, realistic fiction that speak truth to power and champion the rights of citizens in our justice system. These novels are dedicated to the social justice movement. They educate, spark discussion and inspire readers to action. One of these novels, Betrayal High, was written in response to school shootings. For more information, please visit www.markmbello.com. Mark also hosts the Justice Counts podcast with Lean to the Left editor & publisher Bob Gatty, presenting bi-weekly interviews focused on social justice.