This is the next of a new series of missives on our unfinished work to restore the promise of our country and its government. Each will focus on a single element of the many opportunities and challenges that lie ahead. Each will provide three steps we can all take to build upon our huge victories winning back the House in 2018 and the Presidency in 2020.
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History is not repeating itself. When elected in 1856, 15th President James Buchanan was highly respected, but he sympathized mightily with the slaveholding South. When Abraham Lincoln was elected four years later, Buchanan did nothing to discourage the various plots to block Lincoln’s inauguration, scheduled four very long months after the election. Buchanan was tempted but didn’t participate in a coup, and instead the southern states seceded.
Sixty years earlier, as Lin Michael Miranda has taught, Aaron Burr’s political estrangement began when Alexander Hamilton blocked his path to the Presidency. Subsequently, he committed treason by plotting to establish a new nation in the Southwest. No coup there either.
Millard Fillmore, no way. Rutherford B. Hayes or James Monroe, not a chance. Not even a faint notion in the mind of William Howard Taft. Except for Donald Trump, the singular sensation, our 230-year record of peaceful transitions of power is unblemished. The seemingly never-ending stream of disclosures from the Select Committee investigating the January 6 insurrection will provide much of the evidence Merrick Garland needs to indict Trump. In addition, the Justice Department has charged 820 people in the breaching of the Capitol, and 260 have pleaded guilty, including pleas of guilt to the charge of “seditious conspiracy”. We know the identity of the seditious conspirator in chief.
The Committee’s upcoming public hearings will establish that Donald Trump endeavored to block the certification of Joe Biden’s election and thus sought to overthrow the government of the United States.
Did you ever think you would hear such a thing? Donald Trump orchestrated the selection of bogus electors in seven states, all of whom submitted false affidavits and thus committed election fraud. In advance, he sought the creation of a mob to send to the Capitol to prevent the election’s certification, and he chortled over their temporary success. He invented powers for the Vice President which did not exist and tried to make Mike Pence his coup partner. He pressed the Georgia Secretary of State to ignore his Constitutional responsibility and change the outcome. Through it all, he demonstrated enormous contempt for our country.
The Select Committee has already shown that Trump was not just being swept along by the maniacal disregard of the law by Sydney Powell and Rudy Giuliani. Through it all, as everyone from Bill Barr to Sean Hannity have since observed, he sought a new set of acolytes every time someone informed him that he had lost. This set of actions by any other American elected official in the past century would have resulted in their immediate departure from public service.
Trump has numerous, distinct problematic legal problems across the country, as CNN has outlined. The Fulton County Georgia prosecutor Fani Willis has convened a grand jury. But all the cases pale against being indicted by the Attorney General of the United States.
Democrats are bumping into each other claiming that Merrick Garland is too cautious, or insufficiently vocal. The truth is, we are out of practice viewing how an Attorney General should show restraint in public in circumstances like these. If nothing else, Garland is displaying the behavior every appellate court is expecting of him. But he did say this, which seems pointed:
“The Justice Department remains committed to holding all January 6th perpetrators, at any level, accountable under law—whether they were present that day or were otherwise criminally responsible for the assault on our democracy.”
The two most likely potential charges are obstructing an official proceeding of Congress and conspiracy to defraud the American people. The first charge involves Trump’s instigation of the insurrection, made more difficult (but not impossible) to establish because he did not physically enter the Capitol. The latter charge might well depend on proving that Trump knew he had lost. There is also the matter of the fraudulent submission of electors, which has attracted considerable attention from the Special Committee.
Surprisingly, some things are happening in Congress even with the distraction of the work of the Special Committee and the political primaries that are underway. A bipartisan effort led to the passage of the Postal Reform Act of 2022, which will save the U.S. Postal Service $50 billion over the next ten years, thus increasing its viability. Also destined to pass is the Innovation and Competition Act which among other things seeks to resolve America’s microchip shortage. The Senate version received support from 18 Republican Senators.
It isn’t outlandish to imagine and work for a future where former Presidents are brought to justice when they attempt a coup, and where Congress works together on major legislation. With such goals in mind, let’s do these three things.
| 1) Fight to Protect the Right to Choose | |
 | The disclosure of Supreme Court Alito’s draft opinion overturning Roe v. Wade does not guarantee that the Court has made its final decision, but it does signal a highly likely outcome. Still an issue is whether the Court will end up protecting even the most limited constitutional right in states bent on banning access to abortion entirely. This will change the battleground away from both the states that have passed restrictive abortion laws and the 16 states and the District of Columbia that have clearly protected the right to choose. Almost all the states that are in play already have important Senatorial and Gubernatorial races this fall. These are Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. All have Republican control in the Legislature, but all but North Carolina voted for Joe Biden. There will also be intense battles in Florida, Iowa, and Ohio, depending on the Governor. Protecting choice will instantly become the number one issue in countless state legislative races, especially in the above states. There will be plenty of chances to make targeted contributions. In the meantime, a very good place to send money would be NARAL Pro-Choice America, which fights for choice in partnership with Planned Parenthood and Emily’s List. |
2) Follow Republican! Candidates for President | |
 | There is a good argument that Donald Trump being on the presidential ballot in 2024 would be a gift from the gods. On the other hand, allowing America to bleed every day can’t be such a good thing. So, it is interesting to watch present and former Republican Governors brave Trump’s wrath by exploring their own candidacy. These include Larry Hogan of Maryland, Chris Christie of New Jersey, Nikki Haley of South Carolina, and now Asa Hutchison of Arkansas. All these people have the wrong ideas most of the time, but some are not intentionally and mind-numbingly mean spirited. |
3) Don’t Forget to Register Voters | |
 | You have friends who are becoming eligible to vote, and perhaps some others for whom are losing the protections of Roe v. Wade will motivate political action. Now is the time to evaluate who in the world is not registered. Rock the Vote has everything you need to know about election law in each state and how to register online. |
The unfinished work is monumental. We don’t have any choice but to adopt an approach of relentless attention to what needs to be done. We can do that, no?
David Harrison
Bainbridge Island, Washington
