Jim Beam column: Is there no end to Trump?

Published 7:08 am Monday, October 17, 2022

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

Recently, the American Press website had a picture of a smiling Trump above a headline that said, “House Jan. 6 committee votes unanimously to subpoena Trump.” The odds he is going to appear are slim to none, but we will be exposed to more stories about just that.

One of those stories surfaced Friday when Politico reported that Trump wrote a 14-page letter to the committee but declined to divulge whether he would comply with the subpoena. However, he tried to blame the Jan. 6 attack on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for her failure to deploy National Guard troops at the Capitol.

The committee showed some videos of congressional House and Senate  leaders calling the governors of Virginia and Maryland for help during the insurrection at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. You could tell they were worried about what might be coming next.

Then Vice President Mike Pence, the major target of the Trump invaders, calmed things down by saying he had spoken with Capitol Police and the congressional session to certify President Joe Biden’s election would continue.

The committee produced a Secret Service message that warned in a Dec. 26, 2020, email of a tip that members of the right-wing Proud Boys planned to outnumber the police in a march in Washington on Jan. 6. There were also interviews with former Trump aides who said Trump had acknowledged he had lost the election.

Another headline said,  Trump dossier source shocked speculation portrayed as fact.” That story was so confusing, I gave up trying to figure it out.

We got a small break Thursday when the only Trump story was about the Jan. 6 House committee trying to figure out how to save more than 1,000 interviews and millions of other documents, most of which the public has never seen.

If Trump’s Republican allies take control of Congress — an extremely scary thought — the public may never see any of that stuff.

We have read about the New York attorney general filing a massive civil fraud lawsuit against Trump and his three eldest children alleging they inflated the value of his properties in order to get loans.

The district attorney in Fulton County, Ga., is investigating Trump’s role in attempting to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia. Indictments could be issued as soon as December.

On another front, the Oath Keepers trial was underway in Washington last week. Jurors heard about messages showing members of the militia group “were ecstatic when then-President Donald Trump invited supporters to a ‘wild’ protest in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021, when Congress would be certifying the results of the 2020 election.”

The seditious conspiracy trial involves Stewart Rhodes, the Oath Keepers founder and national leader, and four of his associates. A leader of the group in Florida said of Trump in a message, “He wants us to make it WILD. He called us all to the Capitol and wants us to make it wild!!! Sir Yes Sir!!!

One Oath Keeper member has pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge. The Oath Keepers trial is expected to last over a month. Several members of the Proud Boys have also been charged with seditious conspiracy.

Despite the many problems Trump has created since he left office, he continues to have the undying support of GOP Minority Whip Steve Scalise of Jefferson, La., and Trump has endorsed U.S. Rep. Clay Higgins, R-Lafayette, who represents the SW corner of the state.

Republican Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry is another Trump loyalist who wants to be the state’s next governor. Jeremy Alford in LaPolitics Weekly said when Gov. John Bel Edwards was asked about endorsements he stopped short of committing, but did say, “You can bet it won’t be Jeff Landry.”

Alford said there is already an effort to build an “Anybody But Landry” outfit. Landry had fought many of Edwards’ efforts during the nearly seven years he has been governor.

Having to deal with Trump’s baggage has been bad enough. Having his loyalists in more Louisiana political offices is a cross we shouldn’t have to bear.