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Texas Republicans are angry at big tech’s reaction to Capitol siege -- but few mention the GOP’s role in sowing election misinformation
January 22, 2021
After major technology and social media companies this month banned former President Donald Trump from their platforms and dumped conspiracy peddling accounts and the app Parler over their respective roles in inciting the deadly siege on the U.S. Capitol, Texas Republicans portrayed the moves as discrimination against GOP voices.
But many lawmakers did so without acknowledging or decrying the role Republicans and social media played in stoking the baseless conspiracies that fueled the insurrectionists' vicious anger at the outcome of a free and fair election.
<p>Much of the Texas GOP's post-siege rhetoric depicts the technology and social media companies' moves as the "censorship of conservatives," even though the actions were in response to credible evidence that communications were inciting violence. And legal experts agree that these tech companies are exercising their full legal rights to moderate anything on their platforms. That means some GOP politicians' vows to take legal, congressional and legislative action now put them in the rare position of advocating for something they typically oppose: more regulation of companies operating in a free market.</p><p><a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2021/01/14/ken-paxton-texas-whistleblower-lawsuit/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Beleaguered</a> Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a fervent Trump loyalist who <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2021/01/07/texas-ken-paxton-trump-supporters/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">attended</a> the rally that preceded the attack on the U.S. Capitol, even issued civil investigative demands last week to five tech and social media firms, including Facebook and Twitter.</p><p>"The seemingly coordinated de-platforming of the President of the United States and several leading voices not only chills free speech, it wholly silences those whose speech and political beliefs do not align with leaders of Big Tech companies," Paxton said in a Jan. 13 <a href="https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/news/releases/ag-paxton-issues-civil-investigative-demands-five-leading-tech-companies-regarding-discriminatory" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">news release</a>.</p><p>According to <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/1968" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">U.S. Code</a>, an attorney general can issue a civil investigative demand during a racketeering investigation in order to acquire information or documents relevant to that investigation. These demands can be used to obtain evidence of a company's procedures and policies. According to last week's press release, Paxton is using civil investigative demands to learn about the procedures that social media firms use to regulate postings or user accounts.</p><p>"The public deserves the truth about how these companies moderate and possibly eliminate speech they disagree with," Paxton said.</p><p>Following the violent riot at the Capitol, Paxton <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2021/01/07/texas-ken-paxton-trump-supporters/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">claimed</a> on Twitter that the mob consisted of "antifa thugs" rather than Trump supporters. FBI assistant director Steven D'Antuono refuted that claim during a news conference, saying that the agency has "no indication" that antifa had anything to do with the violence.</p><p>After filing a long shot lawsuit seeking to overturn the election results (which the <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2020/12/11/texas-lawsuit-supreme-court-election-results/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">U.S. Supreme Court quickly rejected</a>), the Texas attorney general has continued to peddle baseless claims of election fraud. He has not acknowledged any personal role in sowing doubts over the election results among far-right fringe groups. Instead, he has used recent days to launch an attack on social media companies.</p><p>Trump repeatedly advertised the "Save America" rally for Jan. 6, the day Congress was slated to formally certify the election results, on his Twitter account. He also attacked the results of the election — despite <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/barr-trump-special-counsel-voter-fraud-hunter-biden/2020/12/21/4d85f060-439c-11eb-b0e4-0f182923a025_story.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">his own Justice Department's finding</a> that there was no evidence of widespread fraud that would have changed the outcome — during his speech to the crowd that day.</p><p>"If you don't fight like hell, we're not going to have a country anymore," he told his supporters, just before many of them broke into the Capitol.</p><p>Facebook, Twitter and other tech corporations have faced criticism in the past for allowing their platforms to be used to sow misinformation and propagate violence, mostly from Democrats. Democratic lawmakers last year got little traction with a bill in Congress that would have held social media companies accountable for the "amplification of harmful, radicalizing content that leads to offline violence."</p><p>The tech companies most recently explained their removal of Trump's accounts in his final days in office by citing concerns that his false claims of election fraud may possibly incite more violence. Other accounts and hashtags like #StopTheSteal that glorified violence or promoted QAnon conspiracies have also been purged by various sites.</p><p>"We faced an extraordinary and untenable circumstance, forcing us to focus all of our actions on public safety," Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey <a href="https://twitter.com/jack/status/1349510770992640001" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">said</a> of the platform's decision to ban Trump. "Offline harm as a result of online speech is demonstrably real, and what drives our policy and enforcement above all."</p><p>The Washington Post reported that since Twitter and other social media platforms suspended the president's accounts, online misinformation about election fraud has <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/01/16/misinformation-trump-twitter/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">dropped 73%</a>, according to San Francisco-based research firm Zignal Labs. Social media mentions about voter fraud plummeted from 2.5 million to just 688,000 in the week after Trump's removal from Twitter.</p> <h2>Parler, Paxton and freedom of speech</h2> <p>Meanwhile, Apple, Amazon Web Services and other companies also severed ties with the app Parler due to its role in failing to address right-wing conspiracy theories and calls for pro-Tump violence on its platform. The app and website served as a social media forum for groups of far-right extremists and QAnon conspiracy theorists.</p><p>After the Capitol siege, ProPublica <a href="https://projects.propublica.org/parler-capitol-videos/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">recreated the scene</a> by aggregating thousands of videos uploaded to Parler showing the pro-Trump mob breaching the walls of the Capitol. On Tuesday, CNN <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/19/tech/parler-web-hosting-amazon/index.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">reported</a> that Parler was partially back online with the help of a Russian-based tech company. However, the platform remains mostly unavailable for its millions of users.</p><p>On Thursday, the Democratic chairwoman of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform <a href="https://context-cdn.washingtonpost.com/notes/prod/default/documents/61078e4b-d6c9-400c-a09e-5abc805836f5/note/784408e3-3642-4698-a260-b1adbeddbaa8.#page=1" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">requested</a> that the FBI launch a "robust examination" of Parler's role in the Capitol siege and the site's apparent ties to a Russian firm.</p><p>Despite the recent violence at the Capitol and an accompanying string of arrests, Texas Republicans have continued to focus on the threat they believe "big tech" poses to freedom of speech.</p><p>In a Jan. 9 <a href="https://www.danpatrick.org/enough/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">statement</a>, Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick condemned the violent siege of the U.S. Capitol by Trump supporters and took a swipe at tech companies, but stopped short of implicating Trump himself in the attack. Patrick chaired Trump's reelection campaign in Texas.</p><p>"Enough of allowing Big Tech – Twitter, Google, Facebook and Apple — to silence our freedom of speech," Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick wrote in a Jan. 9 <a href="https://www.danpatrick.org/enough/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">news release</a>. "We cannot let this happen. It will lead to more anger. And enough of all the hate on social media toward those who have a different opinion than we do."</p><p>Legal experts, meanwhile, point out that the First Amendment — which protects free speech — only prohibits government censorship. That leaves private companies to choose their own protocols.</p><p>"From a First Amendment perspective, social media companies are private actors and aren't subject to the First Amendment," said Scot Powe, a professor at the University of Texas School of Law. "So it's a matter of constitutional law. They can be as biased as they want in any direction they choose."</p><p>Still, many Republicans, like freshman U.S. Rep. Beth Van Duyne of Irving, echoed Patrick's sentiments.</p><p>"Big Tech is increasingly wielding their power and market dominance to silence conservative voices, and we need to put an end to it," Van Duyne <a href="https://twitter.com/RepBethVanDuyne/status/1350113944187318275" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">said</a> on Twitter.</p><p>Van Duyne was one of <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2021/01/07/texans-congress-vote-electoral-college-certification/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">17 Texas Republicans in Congress</a> who voted to contest the electoral votes from at least one of the states Trump lost in November. She decried the violent insurrection at the Capitol in a <a href="https://twitter.com/RepBethVanDuyne/status/1346947328918347777" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Jan. 6 Twitter thread</a>, "imploring President Trump to send a clear message by denouncing this sickening violence."</p><p>Van Duyne added on Twitter that she is pledging to refuse future campaign contributions from major tech firms. According to campaign finance reports, she did not receive any campaign donations from major tech corporations during the 2020 election cycle.</p><p>"Please join me in sending a clear message to those in Silicon Valley: If you're going to censor conservative voices, we don't want your money," Van Duyne said in a <a href="https://twitter.com/RepBethVanDuyne/status/1350839927018319874" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Jan. 15 news release</a>.</p> <h2>A long standing legal battle</h2> <p>Many Republicans' ire after the Capitol siege has been aimed at a part of the 1996 Communications Decency Act that establishes tech companies as private platforms instead of publishers.</p><p>That decades-old law reaffirms the ability of private firms to regulate content as they see fit. And Section 230 of the act protects media companies from legal liability for what their users post. Many Texas Republicans were eyeing a repeal of the section even before the Capitol siege, the cancellation of a sitting president's social media accounts and Trump's second impeachment.</p><p>"Section 230 gives every company the freedom to do what it wants," Stanford Law School professor Mark Lemley told the Tribune. "It can moderate or not. And it can decide what to moderate in ways that favor some speech over others. Facebook bans nudity, for instance; other sites don't."</p><p>But since Twitter banned Trump, Texans in the GOP have taken to social media to renew their criticisms of Section 230.</p><p>U.S. Rep. Lance Gooden, R-Terrell, wrote in a Jan. 7 <a href="https://twitter.com/Lancegooden/status/1347220220260147201?s=20" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">tweet</a> that Section 230 has allowed "Big Tech to SILENCE the leader of the free world."</p><p>But experts say the basic legal rights of private media corporations allow them to remove content or user accounts, and Section 230 only goes an extra step to protect such companies from lawsuits over what their users post.</p><p>Gooden objected to Congress' certification of some of the Electoral College votes that gave President Joe Biden the victory over former President Trump. Following the Capitol riot, Gooden condemned the violence on Twitter, but he has continued to back Trump's false claims of election fraud while opposing Biden's "radical agenda."</p><p>Gooden's staff did not respond to a request for comment from the Tribune.</p> <h2>The fight in the Texas Legislature</h2> <p>Texas Republicans back home have also promised legislation aimed at major tech companies since social media giants and other big firms purged Trump, conspiracy theorists and Parler.</p><p>State Rep. <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/directory/briscoe-cain/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Briscoe Cain,</a> R-Deer Park, wants to file legislation completely banning government contracts with companies like Apple, which stopped offering Parler on its app store.</p><p>"I've asked my staff to start drafting legislation to prohibit the use of tax dollars to purchase @Apple products," Cain tweeted last week — from an Apple iPhone, according to the tweet. "I hope legislators in other states will do the same."</p><p>In a statement to the Tribune, Cain said he enjoys using Twitter and Facebook, but he believes that such companies "unfairly target conservatives" and should not benefit by receiving any tax dollars through government contracts. While using his social media accounts to promote this legislation over the last week, Cain has not condemned the Capitol riot in any of his postings.</p><p>Cain's staff did not provide any further information about the details of Texas government contracts with Apple, including how much money the state's many independent agencies may pay the company.</p><p>State Sen. Carol Alvarado, a Houston Democrat, said such a law banning tech contracts with the government would only disrupt the operations of the state government and create unnecessary difficulties with technology. She added that proposing the kind of law that Cain envisions would distract from the real problems that Texans are facing every day.</p><p>"I don't see that people are demanding that we do something about this," Alvarado said. "People want us to fight the virus and to get our economy going again. I hope that people from both sides would focus on those issues and not a solution that's looking for a problem."</p><p><em>Disclosure: Amazon Web Services (AWS), Apple, Facebook and Google have been financial supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune's journalism. Find a complete <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/support-us/corporate-sponsors/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">list of them here</a>.</em></p>
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'Flying monkeys': Experts reveal how Donald Trump and other cult leaders infect their followers
January 22, 2021
When we published The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump in 2017, we emphasized that, despite its title, Donald Trump was not our main focus. His presidency was more a statement about the nation and its state of public mental health, of which he was a barometer at the time of election and then the chief accelerant and exacerbator of its defects once in office.
Over the course of the last four years, we have witnessed how his "base" remained consistently at more or less 40% of the population despite continuous scandals and policy failures, including vastly increasing the death toll from COVID-19 through malfeasance and misfeasance and even a deadly assault on the Capitol. We had warned that this unwavering adherence was not a product of healthy, rational and well-informed decision-making, but followed more the pattern of pathological, abusive relationships.
<blockquote>Trump followers' unwavering adherence was not a product of healthy, rational and well-informed decision-making, but followed more the pattern of pathological, abusive relationships.<br/></blockquote><p>This does not mean that each follower of the Trump will exhibit abnormal psychology; on the contrary, they will resemble more victims of abuse and members of a cult, predisposed not just because of personal trauma history but because of a state of poor collective mental health. <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08L6RGGYK?pf_rd_r=4KBPWR60CKQ6SK2M455K&pf_rd_p=edaba0ee-c2fe-4124-9f5d-b31d6b1bfbee" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Societal mental health</a> is not the same as the sum of the mental health of individual members, and the themes and conflicts of groups are not the same as personal struggles, even though they interact.</p><p>Some problems are better conceived of as <a href="https://worldmhc.org/racism-as-a-cultural-disorder/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">cultural disorders</a>, as the World Mental Health Coalition recently labeled racism and white supremacy. Violence, in general, fits more the category of a <a href="https://www.usnews.com/opinion/policy-dose/articles/2018-03-06/prevent-violence-at-the-societal-level" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">societal disorder</a> than an individual one—indeed, violence does not depend as much on individual characteristics, such as individual mental illness, as it does on social ones, such as levels of inequality in a society.</p><h3>U.S. Primed for Abuse</h3><p>It is important to note how the United States as a whole in the last few decades has been primed for nationwide vulnerability to <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-shared-psychosis-of-donald-trump-and-his-loyalists/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">narcissistic abuse</a>, no matter the individual variations in resistance. After four years of the Trump presidency, many of us who opposed him feel traumatized and victimized by his emotional abuse. What may be surprising to some is that his followers are also victims of his abuse.</p><p>Donald Trump has attempted to manipulate reality for all of us, but the millions of people who support him are deeply under his spell. He even manipulated them to invade the Capitol, both for his own strategic gain to pressure Congressional Republicans to oppose Electoral College tallies and to serve his emotional need to continue the lie that he won the election. <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/storytelling/capitol-riot-mob-arrests/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Some insurrectionists</a> may spend years in prison all so their leader could temporarily perpetuate a self-delusion to feel better about himself.</p><h3>'Love Bombing'</h3><p>Extreme narcissists often begin relationships with what is called "<a href="https://www.dcreport.org/2020/12/17/donald-trumps-supporters-he-does-whatever-he-wants/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">love bombing</a>," a false expression of affection that frequently involves over-praising and over-promising.</p><p>Trump actually said in private that he dislikes his followers, even noting about the insurrection that it looked "<a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-election-2020/trump-mob-capitol-riots-poor-low-class-b1785099.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">low class</a>." He likely holds contempt, furthermore, that they have failed—never mind that, according to an FBI agent, the nation barely escaped a massacre of its lawmakers by a <a href="https://eand.co/the-more-we-learn-about-the-coup-the-worse-it-gets-866fb923d4f3" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">minor miracle</a>.</p><p>Yet at rallies, he praises supporters effusively and in a video after the insurrection <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/01/07/trump-we-love-you-capitol-mob/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">told them</a>: "We love you. You're very special." This love bombing forms a trauma bond in the victim of enmeshed patterns of dependency or emotional addiction. Trump followers crave his attention and approval, and he gives it to them, mainly because they then feed him the attention he craves. For the victim, it can lead to loss of sense of self, confusion and a relentless clinging to the abuser.</p><p>The extreme narcissist, however, views all relationships through the lens of: "What's in it for me?" This transactional pattern is revealed in Trump's <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/20/technology/proud-boys-trump.html?campaign_id=2&emc=edit_th_20210121&instance_id=26148&nl=todaysheadlines&regi_id=68696839&segment_id=49880&user_id=c591404d4cd6e275cb639e21d3f7933b" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">abrupt abandonment</a> of those he perceives to be disloyal to him or even fails to "win" on his behalf. If the former president is convicted in the Senate and <a href="https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/impeachment-could-ban-trump-2024-run.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">barred from running</a> for office in 2024, his followers may be surprised at how immediately his need for their attention and financial support disappears. Those who understand abusive personalities will not be surprised at all.</p><h3>'Flying Monkeys'</h3><p>Cult leaders use "deluded dupes" for their own purposes, mostly to generate <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/evolution-the-self/201507/is-what-really-makes-narcissists-tick" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">narcissistic supply</a> or attention. Also, a priority is harvesting assets for personal use, as we see from the <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/evolution-the-self/201507/is-what-really-makes-narcissists-tick" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">hundreds of millions of dollars</a> Trump raised after he lost the election and monetized his presidency as never before.</p><p>Another way abusers victimize is by recruiting others to unwittingly do their dirty work. A popular psychological label for them is "<a href="https://www.psychcentral.com/pro/exhausted-woman/2019/07/narcissists-and-their-flying-monkeys" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">flying monkeys</a>," who are the "henchmen" and "henchwomen" surrounding abusers to support their warped view of reality and self-centered behavior. Manipulation, intimidation, or opportunism and corruption may have caused their collusion with the extreme narcissist, but they serve to legitimize and maintain the abusive status quo.</p><p>Those in the population who are narcissistically wounded and insecure like to feel "in the know," or part of a secret "in group," which makes them feel powerful with a sense of belonging. As a result, they are attracted to conspiracy theories and <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/internet/some-qanon-followers-struggle-inauguration-day-n1255002?cid=sm_npd_nn_fb_ma&fbclid=IwAR2Y2QPpvIoXF0yb-7SZZ6PWL-2mrwpHtbsry7XN0QDobUSU1W56q53DLBY" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">cult-like organizations</a>, a pattern that those at the Jan. 6 insurrection embodied, through membership in groups such as QAnon and Proud Boys.</p><p>When a society is made <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08L6RGGYK?pf_rd_r=4KBPWR60CKQ6SK2M455K&pf_rd_p=edaba0ee-c2fe-4124-9f5d-b31d6b1bfbee" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">psychologically vulnerable</a> through relative deprivation, then large segments of the population come to be drawn to narcissistic abuse or even "<a href="https://www.merckmanuals.com/professional/psychiatric-disorders/schizophrenia-and-related-disorders/shared-psychosis" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">shared psychosis</a>." Sometimes called "<a href="https://www.brainpickings.org/2017/03/23/the-sane-society-erich-fromm/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>folie à millions</em></a>" or "madness among millions," shared psychosis refers to the infectiousness of severe symptoms when a highly symptomatic individual is given an influential position.</p><h3>Delusions Worse than Lies</h3><p>When "mistruths" are not just strategic lies but delusions, for example, they spread much <a href="https://www.dcreport.org/2020/07/21/how-president-trumps-psychosis-infects-his-followers-and-why-theyre-getting-better-when-he-isnt/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">more rapidly</a>. We can see this in how dramatically polls changed: only a small minority of Republicans thought in early November that Joe Biden did not win, but in a <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/republicans-joe-biden-won-election-legitimately-poll-1562343" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">recent poll</a> three out of four do not believe Biden won the election legitimately.</p><p>Removal of the highly symptomatic person from influence and exposure, such as from <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/01/11/trump-banned-social-media/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">social media platforms</a>, have already dissipated much of Donald Trump's influence and ability to incite violence.</p><p>Further <a href="http://www.harperwest.co/a-psychological-explainer-on-why-we-must-hold-trump-accountable/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">accountability</a>, <a href="https://www.dcreport.org/2020/12/07/prosecution-why-biden-needs-to-throw-the-book-at-trump/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">prosecution</a>, and <a href="https://www.dcreport.org/2019/12/24/president-trumps-mental-health-time-for-an-intervention/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">limit setting</a> will help discredit and "deprogram" his stronghold on his hitherto steadfast followers. We have learned how powerful the spread and reach of mental pathology can be—to the point of almost losing our democracy!—but we must also recognize that these are well-known dynamics <a href="https://www.salon.com/2021/01/18/my-grandfather-was-a-nazi-our-familys-story-of-complicity-shows-where-the-road-to-extremism-leads/?fbclid=IwAR1QojazcBRtJ-9w74y6QQvEz-OH0ILeyryjzRjW4o_r-sKiD9Pb1vcs_zI" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">throughout history</a> that are preventable. Next time, we can do better through greater mental health awareness and by holding our leaders to a <a href="https://theconversation.com/no-president-should-assume-office-without-a-fitness-for-duty-exam-107778" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">mental health standard</a>.</p><p><em>Harper West, M.A., L.L.P. (</em><a href="http://harperwest.co/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>harperwest.co</em></a><em>) is a licensed psychotherapist, award-winning author and developer of self-acceptance psychology. Both she and Dr. Lee (</em><a href="http://bandylee.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>bandylee.com</em></a><em>) have </em><em>participated in town hall series that are available </em><a href="https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLyut-9AYJvSOzqCDfvMZh6bQedfSf_lpP" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>here</em></a><em> and </em><a href="https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLyut-9AYJvSNRbgRr8fPHIM1s5v-XOKtL" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>here</em></a><em>.</em></p>
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'A good way to unite the country would be to convict and prosecute Donald Trump': watchdog group
January 22, 2021
With public and media attention shifting to President Joe Biden, who was sworn in Wednesday and immediately got to work with a series of executive actions, progressives are reiterating demands for holding his predecessor accountable.
Former President Donald Trump, who threw himself a goodbye ceremony at Joint Base Andrews rather than sticking around for Biden's inauguration, was impeached by House Democrats and 10 Republicans an unprecedented second time last week for inciting a deadly insurrection at the U.S. Capitol with lies about the presidential election.
<p>In addition to facing a trial in the Senate, which as of Wednesday is narrowly controlled by Democrats, Trump could face consequences for allegedly committing <a href="https://www.acslaw.org/projects/the-presidential-investigation-education-project/possible-federal-and-state-crimes/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">various </a>state and federal <a href="https://www.needtoimpeach.com/impeachable-offenses/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">crimes</a>, from obstruction of justice and tax fraud to election interference to campaign finance violations.</p><p>Trump's incitement of the Capitol attack—which delayed certification of Biden's electoral victory—provoked a flood of calls for holding him accountable rather than letting him get away with <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2021/01/20/even-nixon-didnt-pardon-his-cronies-way-out-trump-grants-clemency-bannon-final-day" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">pardoning</a> "his cronies on the way out" then slinking off to Mar-a-Lago, his resort and <a href="https://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/trumps-move-to-mar-a-lago-estate-challenged-by-palm-beach-neighbor/2346150/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">contested full-time residence</a> in Florida.</p><p>Biden, in his speech Wednesday, <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2021/01/20/democracys-day-joe-biden-sworn-46th-president-united-states" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">emphasized</a> the importance of uniting the country, saying that "together we will write an American story of hope, not fear. Of unity not division, of light not darkness. A story of decency and dignity, love and healing, greatness and goodness."</p> <p>"Donald J. Trump is officially a private citizen. He is now vulnerable to criminal prosecution," the advocacy organization Public Citizen <a href="https://twitter.com/Public_Citizen/status/1351938843700707329" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">declared</a> in a Wednesday afternoon tweet.</p><p>"A good way to unite the country would be to convict and prosecute Donald Trump and hold accountable every member of Congress who incited a white supremacist insurrection," the group <a href="https://twitter.com/Public_Citizen/status/1351979361965023234" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">added</a>.</p><p>Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) is also calling for accountability by helping constituents email their senators to pressure them to not only convict Trump but "further protect the country from him by disqualifying him from holding office again."</p> <p>Before Trump left office but after the storming of Congress, CREW published a report which found that he finished his four-year term "as the most corrupt president in American history with more than 3,7000 conflicts of interest since assuming the presidency."</p><p>"The twice-impeached president relentlessly promoted and encouraged visits to his properties throughout his time in office, using patronage as a marker of loyalty to him and a key strategy for those wishing to curry favor with him and influence administration policy," CREW said.</p><p>As CREW executive director Noah Bookbinder put it: "For the past four years, the Trump administration has again and again made decisions motivated by the personal, financial, political, and legal interests of the president, rather than the interests of the American people."</p><p>"Starting with his decision not to divest from his business interests while in office, there is no doubt that President Trump at every turn sought to find ways to use the presidency to enrich himself, his family, and his businesses," Bookbinder added. "His efforts from the moment he took office to tailor the presidency to benefit his own personal interests set the stage for the lawlessness, corruption, and assaults on democracy that characterized his four years in power."</p><p>Recent polling shows 57% of U.S. voters think Trump shouldn't be allowed to seek elected office ever again, as <em>Common Dreams</em> <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2021/01/19/57-us-voters-want-trump-barred-seeking-office-ever-again-poll" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">reported</a> Tuesday. Speaking on the Senate floor a day before he become majority leader, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) <a href="https://www.democrats.senate.gov/news/press-releases/schumer-floor-remarks-on-the-urgent-needs-on-which-the-senate-needs-to-act-conduct-the-second-impeachment-trial-of-donald-trump-confirm-president-elect-bidens-critical-cabinet-nominees-and-pass-needed-covid-relief-for-the-american-people" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">concurred</a>.</p><p>Referencing Trump's incitement of insurrection, Schumer said that "we need to set a precedent that the severest offense ever committed by a president will be met by the severest remedy provided by the Constitution—impeachment and conviction by this chamber, as well as disbarment from future office."</p><p>Meanwhile, in New York, state Attorney General Letitia James' office is <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/08/24/new-york-attorney-general-sues-trump-organization-accusing-presidents-company" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">investigating</a> how Trump and his company valued assets on financial statements used to get loans and tax benefits, while Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr.'s office recently <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/01/15/trump-criminal-investigation-manhattan-da-probes-seven-springs-estate.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">expanded</a> its ongoing criminal probe of Trump's company.</p>
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