Letters from an American - December 18, 2024

Episode Date: December 19, 2024

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December 18, 2024. Yesterday, Representative Barry Loudermilk, a Republican of Georgia, released an interim report on the failures and politicization of the January 6th Select Committee. As the title suggests, the report seeks to rewrite what happened on January 6th, 2021, when rioters encouraged by former president Donald Trump attacked the US Capitol. Loudermilk chairs a subcommittee on oversight

that sits within the Committee on House Administration. The larger committee, House Administration, oversees the daily operations of the House of Representatives, including the Capitol police. Under that charge, former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy permitted MAGA Republicans to investigate security failures at the Capitol on January 6th. Loudermilk was himself involved in the story of that day after video turned up of him giving a tour of the Capitol on January 5th, despite its being closed because of COVID.

During his tour, participants took photos of things that are not usually of interest to visitors, stairwells for example. Since then, he has been eager to turn the tables against those investigating the events of January 6th. Loudermilk turned the committee's investigation of security failures into an attack on the House Select Committee to investigate the January 6th attack on the US Capitol, more commonly known as the January 6th Committee.

Yesterday's report singled out former representative Liz Cheney, a Republican of Wyoming, who has taken a strong stand against Trump's fitness for office after his behavior that day, as the primary villain of the select committee. In his press release concerning the interim report, Lauder-Milk said that Cheney should be investigated for potential criminal witness tampering and the report itself claimed that numerous federal laws were likely broken by Liz Cheney and that the FBI should investigate that alleged criminality. The report seeks to exonerate Trump and those who participated in the events of January 6th while demonizing those who are standing against him who participated in the events of January 6th, while demonizing

those who are standing against him, rewriting the reality of what happened on January 6th with a version that portrays Trump as a persecuted victim. Trump's team picked up the story and turned it even darker. At 2-11 this morning, Trump's social media account posted, Liz Cheney could be in a lot of trouble based on the evidence obtained by the subcommittee, which states that numerous federal laws were likely broken by Liz Cheney, and these violations should be investigated by the FBI. Thank you to Congressman Barry Lowdermilk on a job well done. To this, conservative writer David Frum

responded, after his successful consolidation of power, the leader prepares show trials for those who resisted his failed first violent attempt to overthrow the government. Liz Janey also responded, January 6th showed Donald Trump for who he really is. A cruel and vindictive man who allowed violent attacks to continue against our capital and law enforcement officers, while he watched television and refused for hours

to instruct his supporters to stand down and leave. She pointed out that the January 6th committee's report was based on evidence that came primarily from Republican witnesses, including many of the most senior officials from Trump's own White House, campaign, and administration, and that the Department of Justice reached similar conclusions after its own investigation. Loudermilk's report intentionally disregards the truth and the Select Committee's tremendous weight of evidence and instead fabricates lies and defamatory allegations in an attempt

to cover up what Donald Trump did, Cheney wrote. Their allegations do not reflect a review of the actual evidence and are a malicious and cowardly assault on the truth. No reputable lawyer, legislator, or judge would take this seriously. CNN aired clips today of Republican lawmakers blaming Trump for the events of January 6th. Last night Trump also filed a civil lawsuit against pollster J. Anne Selzer, her polling company, the Des Moines Register, and its parent company, Gannett, over Selzer's November 2nd poll showing Harris in the lead for the election.

Calling it brazen election interference, the suit alleges that the poll violated the Iowa Consumer Fraud Act. Robert Corn Revere, Chief Counsel for the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, told Brian Stelter, Kaitlin Polance, Hattis Gold, and Paula Reed of CNN, this absurd lawsuit is a direct assault on the First Amendment.

Newspapers and polling firms are not engaged in deceptive practices just because they publish stories and poll results President-elect Donald Trump doesn't like. Getting a poll wrong is not election interference or fraud. Conservative former representative Joe Walsh, a Republican of Illinois, wrote, Trump is suing a pollster and calling for an investigation of Liz Cheney. Don't you dare tell me he's not an authoritarian.

And don't you dare look the other way. Donald Trump is un-American. The resistance to him from Americans must be steadfast and fierce. This afternoon, Trump's authoritarian aspirations smashed against reality. The determination of the MAGA extremists in the House to put poison pills and appropriations measures over the past year meant that the Republicans have been unable to pass the necessary appropriations bills for 2024.

That's not me misspeaking. Forcing the government to operate with continuing resolutions. On September 25th, Congress passed a continuing resolution that would fund the government through December 20th, this Friday. Without funding, the government will begin to shut down, right before the holidays. At the same time, a farm bill, which Congress usually passes every five years and which outlines the country's agriculture and food policies, including supplemental nutrition,

formerly known as food stamps, expired in 2023 and has been continued through temporary extensions. Last night, news broke the congressional leaders had struck a bipartisan deal to keep the government from shutting down. The proposed 1500 page measure extended the farm bill for a year and provided about a hundred billion dollars in disaster relief as well as about 10 billion in assistance for farmers. It also raised congressional salaries and kicked the government funding deadline through March 14th.

It seemed like a last-minute reprieve from a holiday government shutdown. But MAGA Republicans immediately opposed the measure. It's a total dumpster fire. I think it's garbage, said Representative Eric Burleson, a Republican of Missouri. They are talking publicly about ditching Johnson and voting for someone else for House Speaker. Trump's sidekick Elon Musk also opposed the bill. Chad Pergram of the Fox News Channel reported that House Speaker Mike Johnson explained on the Fox News Channel that he is on a text chain with Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, both of whom are unelected appointees to

Trump's proposed Department of Government efficiency charged with cutting the US budget. Johnson said he explained to Musk that the measure would need Democratic votes to pass and then they could bring Trump in, roaring back with the America First agenda. Apparently Musk was unconvinced. Shortly after noon, he posted, any member of the House or Senate who votes for this outrageous spending bill deserves to be voted out in two years.

Later, he added, no bills should be passed Congress until January 20th when Trump takes office. This blueprint would shut down the United States government for a month, but Musk, who again does not answer to any constituents, seems untroubled. Shutting down the government, which doesn't actually shut down critical functions by the way, is infinitely better than passing a horrible bill," he tweeted. Pergram reported that Musk's threats sent Republicans scrambling, and Musk tweeted, Your elected representatives have heard you, and now the terrible bill is dead.

The voice of the people has triumphed. Vox populi, Vox Dei. But Trump and Vice President-elect J.D. Vance seemed to recognize that shutting down the government before the holidays is likely to be unpopular. They issued their own statement against the measure, calling instead for a streamlined bill that doesn't give Chuck Schumer and the Democrats everything they want. Then Trump and Vance went on to bring up something not currently on the table. The debt ceiling.

The debt ceiling is a holdover from World War I when Congress stopped trying to micromanage the Treasury and instead simply gave it a ceiling for borrowing money. In the last decades, Congress has appropriated more money than the country brings in, thus banging up against the debt ceiling. If it is not raised, the United States will default on its debt, and so Congress routinely raises the ceiling as long as a Republican president is in office. If a Democrat is in office, Republicans fight bitterly against what they say is profligate spending.

The debt ceiling is not currently an issue, but Trump and Vance made it central to their statement, perhaps hoping people would confuse the appropriations bill with the debt ceiling. Increasing the debt ceiling is not great, but we'd rather do it on Biden's watch. If Democrats won't cooperate on the debt ceiling now, again, it is the Republicans who threaten to force the country into default. What makes anyone think they would do it in June during our administration? Let's have this debate now. Senator Chris Murphy, a Democrat of Connecticut, explained, Remember what this is all about.

Trump wants Democrats to agree to raise the debt ceiling so he can pass his massive corporate and billionaire tax cut without a problem. Shorter version? Tax cut for billionaires or the government shuts down for Christmas? President and Dr. Biden are in Delaware today honoring the memory of Biden's first wife, Nelia, and his one-year-old daughter Naomi, who were killed in a car accident 52 years ago today. But White House press secretary, Corrine Jean-Pierre, issued a statement saying, Republicans need to stop playing politics with this

bipartisan agreement or they will hurt hard-working Americans and create instability across the country. President-elect Trump and Vice President-elect Vance ordered Republicans to shut down the government and they are threatening to do just that, while undermining communities recovering from disasters, farmers and ranchers, and community health centers. Triggering a damaging government shutdown would hurt families who are gathering to meet with their loved ones and endanger the basic services Americans from veterans to Social Security recipients rely on. A deal is a deal. Republicans should keep their word. Josh Marshall of Talking Points Memo pointed out the relationship between Trump's authoritarianism

and today's chaos on Capitol Hill. Trump elevated Musk to the center of power, Marshall observes, and now is following in his wake. Musk, Marshall writes, is erratic, volatile, impulsive, mercurial, and he introduces a huge source of unpredictability and chaos into the presidency that for once Trump doesn't control. Ron Filipkowski of Midas News captured the days jockeying among Trump and Musk and warring Republican factions over whether elected officials should fund the United States government. The owner of a car company is controlling the House of Representatives from a social media app. Letters from an American was produced at Soundscape Productions, Dedham, Massachusetts. Recorded with music composed by Michael Moth.