Caroline Edwards is an American officer of the United States Capitol Police.  I don’t know what her politics are or were.  I don’t know if she supported Trump or Biden in the presidential election of 2022.  There is no evidence that I know which would suggest that she was “a woke Lib.” But she was there and she was attacked. She was one of the first officers to be attacked by the mob that day. She knows what happened and was an independent witness.

Edwards was one of the first witnesses at the House Select Committee hearings in the summer of 2022. She signalled on the police radio that her first responder unit had been attacked by the mob.  She reported to them that the officers were being overrun by the mob and that she had personally engaged in battle with the rioters for 4 hours on the hill that day.

As the mob pressed against the officers, she was pushed over by a Trumpster and reported to her superiors that the police were being overrun.

One of the mob, Ryan Samsel, pushed a bike rack over her and as a result Edwards hit her head on a handrail. As a result, she suffered a concussion but when she awoke minutes later and she continued her defense, engaging with the mob in hand-to-hand-combat for about 4 hours. She testified about the attack to the House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack in the summer of 2022 and was later awarded the Presidential Medal for her services to the country.

Officer Caroline Edwards testified that she was part of a small group of officers trying to hold the line of bike racks. She heard rioters chanting “Fuck you Antifa.” I guess they thought she was a fake police official to hide her true identity as a member of Antifa.  She said she had participated in about a hundred events of civil unrest and she knew when she was being turned into the villain. She told her Sergeant what she called the understatement of the century, “I think we need some more people.” She movingly testified,

“what I saw was a war scene…I couldn’t believe my eyes there were officers on the ground. They were bleeding they were throwing up. I saw friends with blood all over their faces. I was slipping in people’s blood. I was catching people as they fell…It was carnage. It was chaos…Never in my wildest dreams did I think as police officer, as a law enforcement officer  I would find myself in the middle of a battle. I am trained to handle a couple of subjects and to contain a crowd but I am not combat trained and that day was just hours of hand-to-hand combat, hours of anything way beyond what any law enforcement officer is trained for. I just remember that moment of stepping behind the line and seeing the absolute war zone the west front had become.”

Another video shown at the hearing revealed the rioters asserting that they were invited there  by the President of the United States! One of the rioters, Robert Schornack said “what really made me want to come, you know, I had supported president Trump all that time, and I did believe you know that the election was being stolen, and Trump asked us to come. Schornack  was sentenced to 36 months probation for his part in the riot.

Eric Barber, another rioter charged with theft and unlawful demonstrations in the Capitol said, referring to president Trump, said  “he personally asked us to come to D.C. that day. And for everything he has done for us, and if this is the only thing he has asked of us, I’ll do it.” Spoken like a true Trumpster. He was also found guilty.

Other rioters said the same thing. They came because president Trump asked them to come and things were going to happen that day. Trump summoned the Trumpsters and many of them came. Many of them have now been charged and found guilty and sentenced for their efforts.

This was indeed a riot.

Cheney analyzed the things Trump did and did not do on January 6, 2021 during the riot at the Capitol. She had some interesting comments to make about that.

She said, that during the violence on the Capitol Trump knew what was going on. His advisors all urged him to intervene to urge his followers to stop the violence. Not until it had been ongoing for many hours did he finally issue a lame appeal to them to stop the violence long after the damage had been done. His advisors knew what Trump should do, but Trump refused to do the right thing. This should surprise no one. Trump was never famous for doing the right thing. Trump was famous for doing what appealed to him and what h thought was in his own best interests.

Leaders on Capitol Hill begged President Trump for help including Republican House leader Kevin McCarthy who admitted he was “scared.”  Every one of the politicians was scared. Their lives were at risk in the presence of a violent unruly mob. McCarthy called multiple members of Trump’s family after he could not persuade the president himself.

As Cheney said,

“Not only did Trump refuse to tell the mob to leave the capitol, he placed no call to any element of the United States government to instruct that the Capitol be defended. He did not call his Secretary of Defense on January 6^th ; he did not talk to his Attorney General; he did not talk to the Department of Homeland Security. President Trump gave no order to employ the National Guard that day and he made no effort to work with the Department of Justice to coordinate and deploy law enforcement assets, but Vice-President Pence did each of those things.”

As Cheney told the Select Committee of the House of Representatives,  President Trump did nothing to constrain the rioters. He told them by video that he loved them. It is impossible not to reach the conclusion that what was happening at the Capitol that day had his full approval. He approved of the violence he had instigated. As Cheney said, “It was only after multiple hours of violence President Trump finally released a video instructing the violent mob to leave, and as he did so he said, “We love you and you are very special.”

 This is what he did while members of the House and Senate feared for their lives and rioters were rampaging and calling for Mike Pence to be hanged. And this man wants to be president again. And millions of Americans are fine with that.

John Eastman, a lawyer working for Trump who engineered the plan to have Pence overturn the election, worked relentlessly toward that goal. Greg Jacob, the Vice-President’s legal counsel, said this in an email about those efforts while the violent attack was underway: “Thanks to your bullshit we are now under siege.” That is where bullshit leads.

A federal conservative judge, Judge David O. Carter, of the California District Court, Central District of California, evaluated the facts and said this about the effort of Trump and Eastman to get around the constitution: President Trump’s efforts to pressure Mike Pence to act illegally by refusing to count electoral votes likely violated 2 Federal criminal statutes and also said this:

“If Dr. Eastman and President Trump’s plan had worked, it would have permanently ended the peaceful transition of power, undermining American democracy and the Constitution. If the country does not commit to investigating and pursuing accountability for those responsible, the Court fears January 6 will repeat itself.”

As Elizabeth Cheney said, “Every American should read what this federal judge has written.” The same judge, David Carter, issued another decision the week of the Capitol Assault hearings in Washington, where he said John Eastman and other Trump lawyers knew they had little chance of being successful with their legal arguments in court, but they relied on those arguments anyway “to overturn a democratic election.”

Later Eastman realized that what he had done might get him in trouble with the law and advised Giuliani that perhaps he should get a pardon, proving that he too was at home in the swamp that Trump claimed to be draining.

While Congress was under attack on January 6^th Trump’s legal team worked in the Willard Hotel War room  where they continued the work to halt the counting of the electoral votes.

On the evening of January 5, President Trump’s close advisor, Steve Bannon said this in his podcast:  “Just understand this–All hell is going to break lose tomorrow.”  How did Bannon know this?  He had been watching the social media that had been unleashed by Trump’s supporters and he knew what was going to happen because it had been planned. It was not a spontaneous action. It was premeditated.

Bannon knew what was happening and did not hold back.

It is clear what Trump was up to. He was upto–nothing less  than the disruption of the lawful election of the President for his own benefit. What amazes me is the extent to which millions of Americans have acquiesced to this attack on a fundamental  aspect of democratic elections, namely that after the election there must be a peaceful transfer of power to the one who won the election.

Elizabeth Cheney spoke out against Trump, after loyally following his for years and that cost her dearly. Basically, it cost her a political career. Once you speak out against the leader of the Republican Party, like cult, you are ousted never to return. Heretics are not permitted in the world of Trump.

Cheney explained what happened after William Barr resigned:

“After Barr’s resignation on December 23^rd the acting Attorney General who replaced him Jeff Rosen and the acting Deputy Attorney General Richard Donoghue told President Trump over and over again that the evidence did not support allegations he was making in public.”

And of course, Trump continued his insinuations about a stolen election no matter how many of his own advisors advised him that he was wrong, for there was no significant fraud in the election. None of them found fraud even though they knew their boss wanted to find fraud and their lives would have been much easier had they found fraud. The new attorney general, like the old one, told Trump that the evidence did not support the statements he was making in public.

 Trump’s personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, who had been leading the charge on the 60 court cases that the Trump team filed trying to over turn the election in court, and which were lost in court, was severely criticized by the courts, including the New York Supreme Court which said this about him:

“Mr. Giuliani communicated demonstrably false and misleading statements to courts, lawmakers and the public at large in his capacity as lawyer for the former president Donald J. Trump and the Trump campaign in connection with Trump’s failed effort at reelection in 2020.”

As a result, Giuliani lost his license to practice law.

 As Elizabeth Cheney said,

“President Trump invested millions of dollar of campaign funds purposely spreading false information, running ads he knew were false, and convincing millions of Americans that the election was corrupt and that he was the true president.. and this provoked the violence in January 6^th . “

Elizabeth Cheney who spoke knowing that her decision to speak out against Trump was deeply unpopular with many of her supporters and many of the people in her state, yet she chose to speak out against her President and party leader because she saw the corruption of her president and realizing that she had a higher loyalty to the country and the constitution.  She spoke after hearing many weeks of testimony by many witnesses behind closed doors. At the Select Committee Hearings she summarized that evidence for the benefit of viewers. As a result, Ms. Cheney drew our attention to the fact that President Trump corruptly planned to replace the Attorney General of the United States so the US Justice Department would spread his false stolen election claims. In the days before January 6, President Trump told his top Justice Department officials “Just say the election was corrupt and leave the rest to me and the Republican Congressmen.”

Senior officials whom Trump had appointed told him he could not do that because it was not true. What was Trump’s response?  Cheney described it this way:

“So president Trump decided to replace them. He offered Jeff Clark, an environmental lawyer at the Justice Department, the job of acting Attorney General. President Trump wanted Mr. Clark to take a number of steps including sending this letter to Georgia and 5 other states, saying the US Department of Justice “… have identified significant concerns that may have impacted the outcome of the election…”

As Ms. Cheney said,

“This letter is a lie! The Justice Department had in fact repeatedly told President Trump exactly the opposite that they had investigated his stolen election allegations and found no credible fraud that could impact the outcome of the election! This letter and many others like it would have urged multiple states to withdraw their official and lawful electoral votes for Biden.”

Acting Deputy Attorney General Donoghue saw the proposed letter and said this about it: “This would be a grave step for the department to take and it could have tremendous Constitutional, political, and social ramifications for the country.”  Ms. Cheney added, “The committee agrees with Mr. Donoghue’s assessment.  Had Clark assumed the role of Attorney General in the days before January 6^th and issued these letters, the ramifications indeed could have been grave.”

Mr. Donoghue also said this about Mr. Clark’s plan, “and I recall toward the end saying what you are proposing is nothing less than the United States Justice Department meddling in the outcome of a presidential election.” This of course is precisely what it was. It is also precisely what president Trump wanted. It did not matter to him that he would have been corrupting the Department of Justice. The only thing that mattered was that this is what Donald Trump wanted. Nothing else mattered a whit.

As a result of all of this, the senior leadership of the Department of Justice threatened to resign. The White House counsel threatened to resign. They confronted Jeff Clark and Donald Trump in the Oval office. As Ms. Cheney said, “the men involved including acting Attorney General Jeff Rosen and acting Deputy Attorney General Richard Donoghue were appointed by President Trump. These men honored their oaths of office, and did their duty. They were all lawyers who did what was hard because it was right. They put party behind country. They did this at the expense of their careers. As Cheney said, “By contrast, Jeff Clark has invoked his 5^th amendment privilege against self-incrimination and refused to testify.” He was a less honorable lawyer.

One of the more sickening things pointed out by Elizabeth Cheney was that multiple Republican politicians sought presidential pardons for their efforts to thwart American democracy. These are the same political leaders who praised Donald Trump for his efforts to “drain the swamp.” Is that how it done, by seeking presidential pardons for themselves?

 As Cheney said, “President Trump engaged in relentless efforts to  pressure, both in private, and in public” to thwart the will of the American voters. As she said, “What President Trump demanded was wasn’t just wrong, it was illegal and unconstitutional.”

America needs more heretics like Elizabeth Cheney.

Elizabeth Cheney spoke out against Trump, after loyally following his for years and that cost her dearly. Basically, it cost her a political career. Once you speak out against the leader of the Republican Party, like cult, you are ousted never to return. Heretics are not permitted in the world of Trump.

Congress woman Cheney explained what happened after William Barr resigned:

“After Barr’s resignation on December 23^rd the acting Attorney General who replaced him Jeff Rosen and the acting Deputy Attorney General Richard Donoghue told President Trump over and over again that the evidence did not support allegations he was making in public”.

And of course, Trump continued his insinuations about a stolen election no matter how many of his own advisors advised him that he was wrong, for there was no significant fraud in the election. None of them found fraud even though they knew their boss wanted to find fraud and their lives would have been much easier had they found fraud. The new attorney general, like the old one, told Trump that the evidence did not support the statements he was making in public.

 Trump’s personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, who had been leading the charge on the 60 court cases that the Trump team filed trying to over turn the election in court, and which were lost in court, was severely criticized by the courts, including the New York Supreme Court which said this about him:

“Mr. Giuliani communicated demonstrably false and misleading statements to courts, lawmakers and the public at large in his capacity as lawyer for the former president Donald J. Trump and the Trump campaign in connection with Trump’s failed effort at reelection in 2020.”

As a result, Giuliani lost his license to practice law.

 As Elizabeth Cheney said,

“President Trump invested millions of dollar of campaign funds purposely spreading false information, running ads he knew were false, and convincing millions of Americans that the election was corrupt and that he was the true president.. and this provoked the violence in January 6^th .”

Elizabeth Cheney spoke knowing that her decision to speak out against Trump was deeply unpopular with many of her supporters and many of the people in her state, yet she chose to speak out against her President and party leader because she saw the corruption of her president and realizing that she had a higher loyalty to the country and the constitution.  She spoke after hearing many weeks of testimony by many witnesses behind closed doors. At the Select Committee Hearings she summarized that evidence for the benefit of viewers. As a result, Ms. Cheney drew our attention to the fact that

“President Trump co”rruptly planned to replace the Attorney General of the United States so the US Justice Department would spread his false stolen election claims. In the days before January 6, President Trump told his top Justice Department officials “Just say the election was corrupt and leave the rest to me and the Republican Congressmen.”

Senior officials whom Trump had appointed told him he could not do that because it was not true. What was Trump’s response?  Cheney described it this way:

“So president Trump decided to replace them. He offered Jeff Clark, an environmental lawyer at the Justice Department, the job of acting Attorney General. President Trump wanted Mr. Clark to take a number of steps including sending this letter to Georgia and 5 other states, saying the US Department of Justice “… have identified significant concerns that may have impacted the outcome of the election…”

As Ms. Cheney said,

“This letter is a lie! The Justice Department had in fact repeatedly told President Trump exactly the opposite that they had investigated his stolen election allegations and found no credible fraud that could impact the outcome of the election! This letter and many others like it would have urged multiple states to withdraw their official and lawful electoral votes for Biden.”

Acting Deputy Attorney General Donoghue saw the proposed letter and said this about it: “This would be a grave step for the department to take and it could have tremendous Constitutional, political, and social ramifications for the country.”  Ms. Cheney added, “The committee agrees with Mr. Donoghue’s assessment.  Had Clark assumed the role of Attorney General in the days before January 6^th and issued these letters, the ramifications indeed could have been grave.”

Mr. Donoghue also said this about Mr. Clark’s plan, “and I recall toward the end saying what you are proposing is nothing less than the United States Justice Department meddling in the outcome of a presidential election.” This of course is precisely what it was. It is also precisely what president Trump wanted. It did not matter to him that he would have been corrupting the Department of Justice. The only thing that mattered was that this is what Donald Trump wanted. Nothing else mattered a whit.

As a result of all of this, the senior leadership of the Department of Justice threatened to resign. The White House counsel threatened to resign. They confronted Jeff Clark and Donald Trump in the Oval office. As Ms. Cheney said, “the men involved including acting Attorney General Jeff Rosen and acting Deputy Attorney General Richard Donoghue were appointed by President Trump. These men honored their oaths of office, and did their duty. They were all lawyers who did what was hard because it was right. They put party behind country. They did this at the expense of their careers. As Cheney said, “By contrast, Jeff Clark has invoked his 5^th amendment privilege against self-incrimination and refused to testify.” He was a less honorable lawyer.

One of the more sickening things pointed out by Elizabeth Cheney was that multiple Republican politicians sought presidential pardons for their efforts to thwart American democracy. These are the same political leaders who praised Donald Trump for his efforts to “drain the swamp.” Is that how it done, by seeking presidential pardons for themselves?

 As Cheney said, “President Trump engaged in relentless efforts to  pressure, both in private, and in public” to thwart the will of the American voters. As she said, “What President Trump demanded was wasn’t just wrong, it was illegal and unconstitutional.”

America needs more heretics like Elizabeth Cheney.

Elizabeth Cheney was always a Republican. A blue blood Republican if there ever was one.  Her father was Secretary of Defense under George H. W. Bush and Vice-President under George W Bush. She was one of the Republicans in the House of Representatives who voted along with Trump more than almost any other member of Congress. She was as loyal a Republican as you could get. But eventually, after January 6^th she realized she could not support Trump any more. Her country was more important to her than her party.

Cheney spent months working on the House of Representatives listening to sworn testimony and weighing mountains of evidence of what happened on January 6^th at the Capitol in Washington. During that time she learned a lot about Trump. Most of it was bad.

Elizabeth Cheney, one of only 2 Republicans on the Congressional Committee said this in her opening statement at the Select Committee Hearings:

“t 6:01 p.m. on January 6^th after he had spent hours watching a violent mob besiege, attack and invade our Capitol Donald Trump tweeted that he did not condemn the attack. Instead, he justified it. This was an early tweet after many hours of doing nothing to stop the rampage:

“These are the things and events that happen when a sacred landslide election victory is so unceremoniously & viciously stripped away from great patriots who have been badly & unfairly treated for so long.  Go home with love & in peace. Remember this day forever.”

President Trump believed his supporters at the Capitol “were doing what they should be doing.” This is what he said to his staff as they pleaded with him to call off the mob, to instruct his supporters to leave…Aware of the rioters chants to hang Mike Pence the president responded with there words: “Maybe our supporters have the right idea. Mike Pence deserved it.”…On this point there is no room for debate–those who invaded our Capitol and battled law enforcement for hours were motivated by what President Trump had told them, that the election was stolen and he was the rightful president. President Trump summoned the mob, assembled the mob, and lit the flame of this attack…All Americans should keep in mind this fact: On the morning of January 6^th President Donald Trump’s intention was to remain president of the United States despite the lawful outcome of the 2020 election and in violation of his constitutional obligation to relinquish power. Over multiple months Donald Trump oversaw and coordinated a sophisticated 7-part plan to overturn the presidential election and prevent the transfer of presidential power.  

For hours Trumped refused to do what his staff and family and others begged him to do as police officers defending the Constitution and the Capitol and the political leaders and their support staff while they were obviously fearing for their lives. He resisted. He thought the rioters were doing the right thing. He appreciated their zeal in his cause. He was indifferent about the costs. All that mattered was what he wanted.

As Cheney said before the House Select Committee, even though Trump and his team knew the election had been lost

“he engaged in a massive effort to spread false and fraudulent information to convince huge portions of the US population that fraud had stolen the election from him.”

Bill Barr repeatedly told President Trump that he saw no evidence of fraud sufficient to overturn the election.  He also added during the Senate House Select Committee hearings that a year and half later he hasn’t seen anything to change his mind on that either.  We must remember that Barr was Trump’s loyal Attorney General. Many critics felt he was so loyal he allowed the Justice Department to act as Trump’s person law firm, not the purpose for which that department was created. He said there was zero evidence that the voting machines had been tampered with even though such allegations had been made in such a sensational manner that there was a large part of the American population that believed they were evidence of systemic problems in the system. They believed their votes did not count. They believed that not because they were given any evidence of that, they believed that because members of “their side” told them this was the case, even though it was not true. As Barr said to Congress, “this was complete nonsense…and crazy stuff that they were wasting their time on that and it was doing a great disservice to the country.”

Yet a substantial part of the American public believed this “nonsense” and “crazy stuff.” That is what happens when a credulous populace is confronted with unsubstantiated claims by their leader. They believe their leader no matter how nonsensical his claims and in this case, they were indeed nonsensical.  

Trump continued to spread these false allegations at least a dozen times after his Attorney General told him there was no basis in fact for those allegations. None of that mattered to Trump. All that matter is what he believed even though there was no evidence to support those beliefs. Trump has never been concerned about evidence. He just cares about belief. He has been spreading those lies ever since.

After William Barr dealt dismissively with the claims of Trump that the voting machines were fraudulent and he realized that Trump would not change his mind no matter how often Barr told him there was no supporting evidence or information of fraud, Barr put it this way when he gave evidence to the Select Committee,

“I was somewhat demoralized because if he really believes this stuff he has lost contact with, he has become detached from reality. On the other hand when I told him how crazy some of these allegation were, there was never any indication of interest in what the actual facts were.”

This is precisely the point. Trump actually had no interest in the truth. None at all. He was only interested in what reinforced his narrative that the election was stolen. Absolutely nothing else mattered.

Trump’s daughter, Ivanka Trump when confronted with what Barr had said, told the Capitol investigation this: “It affected my perspective. I respected Attorney General Barr. So I accepted what he said was said.”[2] Another long standing loyal Trump supporter admitted that her father was wrong about a stolen election.

Barr knew Cheney well. And Cheney knew Trump well. So did his daughter Ivanka.

Donald Trump had also alleged that there were significant breaches of voter integrity in Philadelphia. As William Barr said under oath during the House of Representatives Select Committee hearings:

“The president had repeatedly suggested that there was some kind of outpouring of unexpected votes in inner city areas like Philadelphia…He said more people voted in Philadelphia than there were voters. That was absolute rubbish. The turnout in Philadelphia was in line with the State’s turnout and in fact, and in fact was not as impressive as many suburban counties and in fact there was nothing strange about the Philadelphia turnout.”

Barr even commented that Trump was the weak element in the Republican ticket, thus leading to the conclusion that there was no fraud in the presidential election.  Needless to say, Trump did not like that comment.

Trump made numerous claims of fraudulent in Philadelphia including claims that dead people were voting. Giuliani had said 8,000 dead people had voted in Pennsylvania. He said, with a snicker, it was easier for dead people to vote by mail in ballot than in person. Trump fans ate this stuff up. But they were not true. Mr. Al Schmidt was the Republican representative on the election oversight commission in Pennsylvania  and investigated these claims.  Schmidt testified under oath this way at the Committee hearing:

“Not only was there no evidence of 8,000 dead voters voting in Pennsylvania there were not even 8. We took seriously every case that was referred to us, no matter how fantastical and how absurd, we took every one seriously, including these.”

As the former White House lawyer for Trump, Eric Herschmann, said about Giuliani who had made those allegations on Trump’s behalf , “they never proved the allegations they were making.”

Trump and Giuliani continued to make such claims but never produced any significant evidence. It was all bogus, but that fakery continues to haunt the current election 4 years later.  It takes a long time to get rid of the taint of lies.

It is easy to spread lies on the internet.  Under oath, under penalty of perjury charges,  people tend to tell the truth.  That is where the truth about Trump usually comes out.

After William Barr dealt dismissively with the claims of Trump that the voting machines were fraudulent and he realized that Trump would not change his mind no matter how often Barr told him there was no supporting evidence or information of fraud, Barr put it this way when he gave evidence to the House of Representatives Select Committee,

I was somewhat demoralized because if he really believes this stuff he has lost contact with, he has become detached from reality. On the other hand when I told him how crazy some of these allegation were, there was never any indication of interest in what the actual facts were.”

This is precisely the point. Trump actually had no interest in the truth. None at all. He was only interested in what reinforced his narrative that the election was stolen. Absolutely nothing else mattered.

Trump’s daughter, Ivanka Trump when confronted with what Barr had said, told the Capitol investigation this: “It affected my perspective. I respected Attorney General Barr. So, I accepted what he said was said.” Another long-standing loyal Trump supporter admitted that her father was wrong about a stolen election.

As Liz Cheney  along time Trump supporter explained

“After Barr’s resignation on December 23^rd the acting Attorney General who replaced him Jeff Rosen and the acting Deputy Attorney General Richard Donoghue told President Trump over and over again that the evidence did not support allegations he was making in public.”

And of course, Trump continued his insinuations no matter how many of his own advisors advised him that he was wrong for there was no significant fraud in the election. None of them found fraud even though they knew their boss wanted to find fraud. The new attorney general also told Trump that the evidence did not support the statements he was making in public.

None of this mattered to Trump. He just did not care about the truth or reality. Should a man like this be trusted with being in charge of the armed forces, or the nuclear buttons, or anything for that matter?

Bill Barr, the Attorney General appointed by Trump to investigate claims of voter fraud,  repeatedly told President Trump that he saw no evidence of fraud sufficient to overturn the election.  He also later added later that that in  a year and half he hadn’t seen anything to change his mind on that either.

We must remember that Barr was Trump’s loyal Attorney General. Many critics felt he was so loyal he allowed the Justice Department to act as Trump’s personal law firm. He said there was zero evidence that the voting machines had been tampered with even though such allegations had been made in such a sensational manner that there was a large part of the American population that believed they were evidence of systemic problems in the  voting system. They believed their votes did not count. They believed that not because they were given any evidence of that, they believed that because members of “their side” told them this was the case, even though it was not true. As Barr said to Congress, “this was complete nonsense…and crazy stuff and that they were wasting their time on that and it was doing a great disservice to the country.

 Yet a substantial part of the American public believed this “nonsense” and “crazy stuff.” And they still do. That is what happens when a credulous populace is confronted with unsubstantiated claims by their leader. They believe their leader no matter how nonsensical his claims and in this case, they were indeed nonsensical.

Trump continued to spread these false allegations at least a dozen times after his Attorney General told him there was no basis in fact for those allegations. And he has continued to do that. None of that mattered to Trump. All that matter is what he believed even though there was no evidence to support those beliefs. Trump has never been concerned about evidence. He just cares about belief. And whatever suits him and what he wants, he believes. That is what he thinks the truth is—i.e. what is good for Donald Trump.

This is how former Attorney General William Barr testified under oath before the Congressional Hearings,

“I had 3 discussions with the President that I can recall. One was on November 23^rd, one was on December 1^st, and one was on December 14, 2022 and I had been there to present the give and take of those discussions and in that context I made it clear that I did not agree with the idea of saying the election was stolen and putting out this stuff which I told him was bullshit. You know I didn’t want to be a part of it and that’s one of the reasons that went into me deciding to leave when I did. I observed I think it was on December 1^st that you know you can’t live in a world where the incumbent administration stays in power based on its view unsupported by specific evidence that the election, that there was fraud in the election.”

As a result of such testimony by Barr, Chairman Bennie Thompson, of the Select Committee of the US House of Representatives said this in his opening statement,

“Bill Barr on election day 2020, was the Attorney General of the United States, the top law enforcement official in the country, telling the President exactly what he thought about claims of a stolen election. Donald Trump had his days in court, to challenge the results.  He was within his rights to seek those judgments. In the United States law abiding citizens have those tools for pursuing justice. He lost in the courts just as he did at the ballot box. And in this country that is the end of the line. But for Donald Trump that was only the beginning of what became a sprawling multi-step conspiracy aimed at overturning the presidential election, aimed at throwing out the votes of millions of Americans. Your votes. Your voice in our democracy and replacing the will of the American people with his will to remain in power after his term ended. Donald Trump was at the center of this conspiracy and ultimately Donald Trump the president of the United States spurred a mob of domestic enemies of the Constitution to march down the Capitol and subvert American democracy. Any legal jargon you hear about seditious conspiracy, obstruction of an official proceeding; conspiracy to defraud the United States boils down to this: January 6^th was the culmination of an attempted coup.  A brazen attempt, as one rioter put it, shortly after January 6^th to overthrow the government. The violence was no accident. It represents Trump’s last stand; a most desperate attempt to halt the transfer of power.”

I think that is a pretty reasonable interpretation of those events based on testimony of people like Bill Barr and others.