U.S. News

Trump campaign lawyer Lin Wood may have gone off the deep end with his latest threatening tweet aimed at Vice President Mike Pence.

On Friday, Jan. 1, Wood took to Twitter with a barrage of tweets as he slammed Democrats and Republicans of being "main participants in the theft of the election," according to The Daily Beast. Wood also claimed that Pence, U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) should be arrested for alleged treason. He suggested that Pence should face "execution by firing squad."

On MSNBC Saturday, Kurt Bardella, a former aide to Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) explained the potential nightmare Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) faces in holding together his party over the next two years — even if he maintains control of the Senate when the Georgia runoffs conclude.

"We've seen a lot of conversations recently about Mitch McConnell trying to assert himself the way he did in 2009, the last time he had an opposition president come into office," said Bardella. "And really, in a lot of ways what's going on in the Republican Party reminds me much more of what former Speaker John Boehner and former Majority Leader Eric Cantor dealt with when the Tea Party came in. They didn't know how to deal with the base, they didn't know how to deal with these independent actors who were doing whatever they wanted, and they ended up losing their seats or walking away from the game altogether."

On Saturday, CNN's Jake Tapper reported that 11 other Republican senators and senators-elect are considering joining the ploy by Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) to formally protest the results of the Electoral College and try to overturn the election — despite there being no basis to do so and no evidence of any serious problems in the election.

The current and incoming senators considering this are reportedly Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), Mike Braun (R-IN), Roger Marshall (R-KS), John Kennedy (R-LA), Jim Inhofe and James Lankford (R-OK), Marsha Blackburn and Bill Hagerty (R-TN), Ted Cruz (R-TX), Ron Johnson (R-WI), and Cynthia Lummis (R-WY).

On Saturday, Axios reported that Washington, D.C. is becoming increasingly embroiled in violent conflict as far-right demonstrators clash with locals and counterprotesters.

"Since the election, supporters of President Trump, militia groups, white nationalists and adherents to conspiracy theories have held demonstrations in the capital in support of Trump's baseless claims of election fraud," said the report. "Violent brawls broke out between these groups and counter-protesters during two weekends of pro-Trump demonstrations in the district in November and December."

Long after Donald Trump is extracted from the White House, voter suppression will live on more zealously than ever in states across the nation. Increased stifling of democracy will rank as one of Trump's more noxious legacies, which is saying something.

On Saturday, The Guardian reported that political experts and strategists are concerned that pro-Trump forces will form a "cult" that will long outlast the outgoing president — and define U.S. politics for years to come.

"Maverick super-loyalists to Donald Trump are set to make an audacious spectacle in Washington next week by voting against the formal counting of electoral college votes certifying Joe Biden's victory," reported Edward Helmore. "While the tactic by outliers won't be enough to stop Biden becoming the 46th president, it will serve to disrupt Congress, bolster Trump and establish an acidic tone to political co-operation with the incoming Democratic administration."

Barack Obama's administration made the policy decision to look forward, not back, and to leave the misdeeds of George W. Bush's administration to history's judgment. That would be a mistake for the incoming Biden administration. Donald Trump and his henchmen have made a concerted attack on American democracy, and done so much corrupting damage that it would be dereliction to give them a pass.

This article first appeared in Salon.

President Donald Trump may be leaving the White House in less than three weeks but he has vowed to continue his political battle. Although Trump is still pushing election falsehoods publicly, behind closed doors he is said to be planning the announcement of his 2024 presidential bid. But could the Senate ultimately dash his hopes of returning to the White House?

A new MSNBC editorial suggests it is certainly possible for the Senate to block Trump from another presidential bid. According to MSNBC Opinion Columnist Hayes Brown, Trump's flurry of pardons may come back to haunt him in the very near future.