With regular show schedules getting adjusted for staff over a holiday weekend, MSNBC used its 10pm slot on November 25 to air a program hosted by Ari Melber that aimed to outline the entire scope of the crimes committed by Trump, his senior staff, non-staff associates and selected politicians across the country in formulating and executing his ploys at remaining in office. Knowing that Melber has been commissioned by the January 6 Committee to write the forward to their final report when published in book form, the thesis put forward in this program is likely reflective of themes to be found in the final report. The program was well written and provided appropriate focus across the wide range of criminal actions initiated by Trump and team. But as I watched it -- along with probably only 20,000 others with nothing better to do on a holiday weekend -- I could not help but wonder "what's the point of this?"
First, a summary of the program.
Melber used a giant multi-pane TV screen to unite the different aspects of the story into one timeline dating from just before election day on November 3, 2020 through January 6, 2021. I've recreated that timeline here for reference.
As each key element of the story was described, that item was added to the timeline with a color code reflecting it's degree of legality at the time (green = totally legal, yellow = iffy, red = obviously illegal). Some actions begun immediately after election day STARTED green -- giving Trump the benefit of the doubt. If a candidate thinks election results were "off", they are more than welcome to file petitions to state authorities requesting investigations or recounts. That is UNTIL you gain knowledge that no anomalies ACTUALLY exist or their impact on voting margins are incapable of changing results. At that point, when you continue filing paperwork with courts "citing" illegalities that do not exist, you are in fact committing a crime. (Melber's graph left these efforts green. I would have turned them red…)
Other efforts started in suspect territory (yellow) and were based on fringe theories that had not been previously discussed by more authoritative counsel but within weeks had generated internal feedback that they in no way reflected a valid legal interpretation of current voting laws in states where efforts were being pursued. At that point, additional efforts to pressure state officials or elected leaders on those merits constituted work in support of a criminal conspiracy -- leading that timeline item to fade from yellow to red.
Other ideas put up for consideration from Trump's lunatic fringe of outsiders were reviewed in real time as they were raised by White House legal counsel and immediately flagged as illegal, yet efforts in those areas continued, making those actions "red" from start to finish.
As summarized by Melber (and likely through inference, the January 6 Committee), the timeline view of the entire effort cements the following conclusions:
- The attack on the Capital on January 6 was not an isolated event, but only one of EIGHT different efforts undertaken to reject the vote of the American people and retain power by Trump.
- The vast majority of schemes considered and pursued were ipso facto ILLEGAL from the outset and Trump KNEW they were considered illegal from the point he initiated them.
- Even those actions that started with a fig leaf of legality BECAME illegal when no supporting documentation was found justifying claims of fraud while Trump's lawyers continued submitting false documents to state courts.
- The calendar overlaps BETWEEN these efforts show that each time LEGAL obstacles to an effort were identified, new ILLEGAL efforts were conceived to go around those barriers, confirming not only ongoing criminal intent but that all such activities were being communicated to Trump and his core team to trigger alternative efforts.
All well and good. I agreed with the program 100%.
But... As they say…
That's not why I'm writing this commentary…
As I watched the program and yawned through the familiar FACTUAL summary, it occurred to me that many others who might ever watch this summary or something like it would have the same exhausted reaction.
It then occurred to me that it is possible Donald Trump could be America's perfect criminal -- a criminal tailor made to exploit all that ails America.
America has been saturated by fake news and outrage since the founding of Fox News in 1996. America has been dumbed down by twenty five years of "social media technologies" that have perfected the art of distraction with bright shiny 4k video and reduced people's attention spans to that of a gnat. Our justice system -- already understaffed, grossly inefficient and heavily biased in favor of the rich and powerful -- has become corrupted over the last thirty years by justices at every level who have more allegiance to talking points issued by the Federalist Society than clauses in the Constitution.
These conditions create the perfect environment for the types of crimes committed by Trump.
- There are LOTS of them occurring on a regular basis so listeners become fatigued listening to new reports of new crimes, assuming they are just recycled hype rather than additional crimes.
- The sheer quantity, complexity and interrelated nature of the crimes defy summarization in soundbytes, making it difficult to accurately convey the events in public media, making it difficult to rally support for appropriate actions in the political sphere
- The sheer quantity, complexity and interrelated nature of the crimes also complicates work for prosecutors who risk boring grand jury members when trying to obtain indictments and risk boring trial jury members when needing to obtain unanimous votes for convictions.
- If you have enough money, you can hire lawyers to submit lawsuits in friendly court jurisdictions who will interfere with court proceedings in other jurisdictions, further slowing down legal processes and generating more news fatigue among the public, helping to tune out news of more new crimes.
As previously opined during Trump's impeachments, the real danger to America doesn't stem from Trump escaping justice. It stems from others currently on the sidelines, studying a master at his craft and perfecting these techniques for the next time. And if Trump is not indicted and convicted, there WILL be many next times to come.
WTH
