Much of the new investigation has focused on whether the select committee had hidden information that may have exonerated Donald Trump.

Members of the House committee that investigated the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol have warned America for three years to take former President Donald Trump at his word.

Now, as Trump is poised to win the Republican presidential nomination, his criminal trials face delays that could stall them past Election Day, and his rhetoric grows increasingly authoritarian, some of those lawmakers find themselves following their own advice.

In mid-March, Trump said on social media that the committee members should be jailed. In December he vowed to be a dictator on “day one.” In August, he said he would “have no choice” but to lock up his political opponents.

“If he intends to eliminate our constitutional system and start arresting his political enemies, I guess I would be on that list,” said Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-San Jose). “One thing I did learn on the committee is to pay attention and listen to what Trump says, because he means it.”

Lofgren added that she doesn’t yet have a plan in place to thwart potential retribution by Trump. But Rep. Adam B. Schiff (D-Burbank), who has long been a burr in Trump’s side, said he’s having “real-time conversations” with his staff about how to make sure he stays safe if Trump follows through on his threats.

“We’re taking this seriously, because we have to,” Schiff said. “We’ve seen this movie before … and how perilous it is to ignore what someone is saying when they say they want to be a dictator.”

  • sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works
    121·
    8 months ago

    Moving the goalposts much?

    That event was way different that Jan 6. On Jan 6, we had armed people in the Capitol building threatening to hang the VP. On May 29, we had some people cross a barricade. They’re not comparable at all.

    • CableMonster@lemmy.ml
      113·
      8 months ago

      So you are going with the “BUT INSURRECTION!!!” argument. It was not a insurrection, and you have yet to compare the quantities of people arrested and convicted with the different events.

      • sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works
        6·
        8 months ago

        If you want to compare quantities, go ahead, but that’s not on me to do. I did that already with your other stated comparison, and I’m not going to keep doing that with your whataboutism.

        And I do believe it was an insurrection. They were literally demanding the election be overturned, and the charges and confessions were consistent with that.

        If it wasn’t an insurrection, what exactly was it? The burden of proof lies with you.

        • CableMonster@lemmy.ml
          17·
          8 months ago

          It was obviously a riot, and I am sad that you can see through some of the narrative but then get caught up on this one. How is it possible that you do not recognize this as a targeted prosecution for political reasons?

          • sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works
            21·
            8 months ago

            Because of how Trump responded in both scenarios. On Jan 6, he provided no additional support to capitol police, despite being urged to do so, but on May 29, the Secret Service pepper sprayed protesters, various policing units were brought in, and troops and National Guard were deployed.

            The response was so different between the two events that it’s clear Trump was okay with Jan 6 (they were trying to keep him in power) but not okay with May 29 (they were opposing inaction on police reform). On Jan 6, multiple people died, and many more were hospitalized. On May 29, the were a few hospitalizations among police, but nothing life threatening. If Trump responded similarly to both, I’d be more sympathetic, but his active lack of action doesn’t instill trust.

            I’d like to see the various lawsuits resolved quickly, because it’s getting to be a very political issue. Ideally, he would’ve resolved everything years ago, but he continually delayed and now we’re in a massive mess. That said, I don’t see him as a victim here, this is exactly the expected result for his actions. Whether he’s guilty should be determined by the courts though, not public opinion.

            • CableMonster@lemmy.ml
              15·
              8 months ago

              You are just repeating the media lines. If you have any doubts then look into the stories better and see the obvious double standard. Just take one second to look at the steve baker prosecution.

              • sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works
                3·
                8 months ago

                Or you can provide evidence…

                For Steve Baker, it looks pretty open and shut:

                “The only thing I regret is that I didn’t like steal their computers because God knows what I could’ve found on their computers if I’d done that. But by the time I got into Pelosi’s office, unfortunately there was some damage done,” Baker said, according to the FBI.

                So, not only did he essentially admit to the charges, but he showed intent to break other federal laws.

                Maybe he was paraded about a bit to “make an example” of him, idk, I would need to review video footage to decide if it seemed excessive. However, journalists don’t get additional protections and can’t just break federal laws whenever they want to get a scoop and expect no charges.

                So I honestly don’t see a double standard here, what I see is you potentially buying into conspiracy BS.

                And here’s another article in case you don’t like the AP or whatever. As a libertarian myself, I don’t want to be associated with this idiot. If he thinks Trump is in any way libertarian, then he’s mistaken about what to label himself. A self-respecting libertarian wouldn’t trespass on federal property in an attempt to overthrow a democratic election, that’s a clear violation of the NAP and I reject that nonsense. I’m no fan of Biden, but that doesn’t mean I want to overthrow an election to put another piece of crap in office. I very much dislike both Biden and Trump and plan to not vote for either this election.

                • CableMonster@lemmy.ml
                  13·
                  8 months ago

                  So what you are saying is that people cant make jokes anymore and the freedom of speech is gone?

                  Please tell me what his crime was very specifically? Why should the other press that were there were not be prosecuted? You know nothing on this case are literally using propaganda and claim to be a libertarian, bullshit.

                  • sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works
                    2·
                    8 months ago

                    His crime was likely trespassing related. From my second link:

                    Unlike Baker, Schaffer was wearing an official Capitol press credential, and has not been charged.

                    So Schaffer had business there, Baker was only there as part of the riot. So it makes complete sense for Baker to be charged and not Schaffer.

                    I didn’t find the specific charges in a quick search (it’s probably in the court fillings somewhere), but I don’t see any evidence to suggest it was because of “scary words” like he claims, that’s just how he chooses to represent it.

                    He was not supposed to be in Pelosi’s office or anywhere in the Capitol building, so he got charged with the rest of those involved in the riot.

                    If you have more details (i.e. the actual charges), I’m interested in looking it over. Perhaps I’m mistaken, I’m just using the evidence before me and it seems open and shut to me.