The President Eject November 29, 2020November 29, 2020 The president keeps saying the election was a massive fraud — how could 80 million people have voted against him when things are going so well? He may not be leaving. His secretary of state expects a “smooth transition” to the second Trump Administration. An email from his daughter-in-law to my mom Thanksgiving morning — with literally no mention of Thanksgiving — was titled, “Don’t trust the Fake news.” President Trump has worked too hard and accomplished too much to have it undone at the hands of BIG GOVERNMENT SOCIALISTS who TOOK the Election. If the Fake News media isn’t going to tell the truth, THEN WE WILL. She asks for $45. Which is a stretch, because my mother died ten years ago, just days after having maxed out to the DNC. President Trump will be reviewing a list with the names of every single Patriot who stepped up at this crucial time.* Will he see YOUR NAME, Audrey? Denying the results of “the most secure election in American history” is not how America is supposed to work. The Republican party used to know that. It plays directly into the hands of Vladimir Putin. It weakens trust in our democracy. It sets Carl and Tom against you and me, when in fact we have so much more in common than separates us. The Lincoln Project takes one chilling minute to reflect on the threat that the G.O.P. — their erstwhile party — now poses to democracy.** Roger Cohen worries about the same thing in this, his final column, equal parts personal narrative, wisdom, and grace. Wednesday I wrote . . . President Putin — a judo blackbelt — has mobilized his modest resources to sow division in our much larger country so that we tear ourselves apart. President Trump — a fake wrestling hall of famer — has wittingly or unwittingly abetted that effort. . . . to which one of you*** replied, simply: “Wittingly!” I don’t know about that, but I do know the Mueller report raises multiple suspicions that could not be verified because of the obstruction deemed criminal by 1,027 Republican and Democratic former federal prosecutors. Even if you believe it’s just harmless coincidence that Trump told the world he trusts Putin’s word over that of the U.S. intelligence agencies — etc., etc., etc. — what do you make of his rushing now to destroy the two Boeing jets configured to enforce the Open Skies treaty that help keep our NATO allies safe from Russian aggression? It obviously helps Russia; but how does destroying those planes strengthen our national security or make America great? Why would Trump do that? Why do Carl and Tom think it’s a good move (if they do)? How are we safer or greater now that North Korea has the capability to obliterate Honolulu and perhaps Seattle or Chicago? Has Trump really handled COVID as well as he insists? This “One Day More” parody — posted 240 days ago — is funny (and sounds great!) unless you’ve been waiting in line since 3am for food . . . while Mitch McConnell blocks relief. What should be the CONSEQUENCES for all this? One of you — who prefers to be identified simply as Steve — has an answer. I’m well aware “you don’t get in a mud fight with a pig, you both get dirty and the pig loves it” . . . but there comes a time when you have to put your foot down. In 1994, seven tobacco executives appeared in front of Congress, swore to tell the truth and lied through their teeth. Nothing happened to them. For years, oil executives denied fossil fuels contributed to global warning. Then it was discovered that they had known all along — yet they kept their industry tax breaks. When the Countrywide Financial scandal erupted, it became apparent that 20% of the sub-prime mortgages packaged into securities suffered first-month defaults (one in five couldn’t make the first mortgage payment) yet CEO Angelo Mozilo was fined merely $47 million of his $457 million in accumulated compensation. Had he been imprisoned or picked clean of his compensation, would the Wells Fargo**** scandal have happened? There have to be consequences! A century ago, the Teapot Dome scandal ended up giving Congress subpoena power and the right to access anyone’s tax records. People who ignored those subpoenas were thrown into jail cells especially made in the basement of Congress. Everyone who defied Congressional subpoenas these past couple of years (and Mnuchin for withholding Trump’s taxes) should be charged with contempt of Congress and if convicted, jailed. Even short sentences would prevent people from thinking they can get away with putting party ahead of country. And if they are lawyers, as many of them are, complaints should be made to the various bar associations seeking disbarment. These points have to be driven home over and over. Otherwise, Trump may be gone, but Trumpism will live on in the GOP. People who tried to interfere with the election results should be charged. Lindsey Graham is a lawyer and chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee. There have to be consequences for his calling state officials and trying to influence the outcome of an election. If he doesn’t know better, he shouldn’t chair the Committee — or retain a law license. Didn’t he once say something about impeachment was about cleansing the office? All the lawyers who represented Trump should be sanctioned for making knowingly false assertions. No doubt Trump will try to pardon himself and all his cronies but his self pardon will not hold up (no one can be a judge in his own case). → We’re not a country that jails its leaders. But if independent prosecutors see reason to investigate, they should. If they find reason to indict, they should. If a jury sees fit to convict and a judge to confer sentence, the public interest will have been served by revealing the truth. And then President Biden (or the applicable governor) should commute that sentence. (Likewise, if prosecutors do NOT find reason to investigate or indict, or juries and judges to convict and confer sentence, the same holds true: the public interest will have been served by revealing that truth.) But first — one way or another — he has to leave. The President Eject. Have a nice day. *This is of course a lie — no one believes Trump will be seeing their names if they donate $45. (For $1 million, on the other hand, he’ll make you Ambassador to the European Union.) **Powerful as Lincoln Project minutes almost invariably are have been — don’t you agree, Lindsey? — I resist the temptation to contribute. It seems to me their funding should come from the millions of lifelong Republicans who hate what’s happened but can’t bring themselves to fund Democrats. At least not publicly. (Look up any donor’s federal giving here.) But whether or not you contribute, do watch this latest minute. ***A Galveston girl who moved to New York, bought a 12-unit building for $60,000 in 1960, cleaned the toilets herself, and now could butter your toast with caviar. ****Thee minutes well worth watching.