Subpoena Colada

If you like subpoena coladas, and gettin’ caught in the reign. The Jan 6 Committee ended its hearings by issuing a subpoena of Donald Trump. While the unlikely appearance under oath of a man who can’t speak the truth would make for some great television, calling for his testimony is a mixed bag. A subpoena for Trump implies that his appearance would provide missing answers. That’s false. What we witnessed in real time has been confirmed over and over and there’s never been a conflicting account. Trump’s team took the 5th so often it should be called taking the 45th. In the weeks following the insurrection, I finished writing a book that, in part, covered what happened before, during, and after the insurrection. Looking back, I don’t need to change a single word. We saw what happened with our own eyes. We don’t need to hear from Trump. We need him to be held accountable. Susan Glasser in The New Yorker: The subpoena “made for a compelling headline, but Thursday’s vote was pure symbolism from a committee that may well be out of business in just a few weeks, if the voters, as expected, give control of the House to the Republicans. It’s impossible to imagine Trump willingly testifying before this or any future Congress about anything—at least, not without years of legal wrangling. The real decision about whether and how to hold Trump responsible for the tragedy of January 6th rests, as it always has, with the Justice Department and its enigmatic Attorney General, Merrick Garland. And we will not know the answer to that question anytime soon.” Donald Trump, January 6th, and the Elusive Search for Accountability.

+ Dahlia Lithwick: “And so we sit in the uncomfortable tension between relitigating what Donald Trump knew and understood on Jan, 6 and when he knew and understood it, and the grim possibility that virtually none of its enablers, plotters, boosters, and opportunists will suffer any consequences.”