In the fall and winter of 2020, I taught a weekly class on Current Events for Literacy for Life, a literacy program at the College of William and Mary. Every week I took my cue from the CNN morning newsletter, “5 Things to Know” for each day. Bcause this was during the COVID lockdowns, I taught this class via Zoom. Attendance at the class was a little sporadic – it varied between six and 10 attendees each week.
Before the 2020 election, many of the “5 things” for each class focused on the Presidential election. After the election, many of the “5 things” related to the defeated candidate’s efforts to overturn the election results.
One of the members of this class — I’ll call her Maria — had bought into the arguments of the “Stop the Steal” movement that developed in the weeks between the election and inauguration. Maria challenged every piece of news that I featured if it ran counter to the narrative that #P01135809 had won the election and that the victory had been stolen from him by the shenanigans of the Democratic Party. She refused to accept any information that argued against her belief; she explained her strong belief by telling me that her boyfriend had a friend who lived in North Carolina who knew of someone who voted twice.
This idea had spread all over in less than two months, and Maria’s belief was so powerful that she could not credit any alternative explanations. She stopped attending the class shortly after the January 6 insurrection because she didn’t believe I was telling the class the truth. I’m sorry she went away.
I’m recounting this story because it provides a microcosm of what has happened in the country over the intervening years. In the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary, many supporters of the former president have become so wedded to their belief that the 2020 election was stolen by President Biden that they simply turn away from anything that challenges their belief.
This week, we are learning about events surrounding two elections – 2016 and 2020. The information leads to an unavoidable conclusion. An American presidential election was stolen – but it was in 2016, not 2020, and the thief was #P01135809, not Biden.
Let’s look first at 2020. Wednesday night we learned of the Arizona indictments of #P01135809’s allies over their efforts to overturn his election loss, including the fake electors from that state and several individuals connected to his campaign. This list of individuals indicted in this case includes Boris Epshteyn, Mark Meadows, and Rudy Giuliani — and Christina Bobb, who oversees the RNC’s Election Integrity effort. You really can’t make this stuff up. While #P01135809 is not among those charged, the details in the indictment suggest he is “Unindicated Coconspirator 1.” How do we know this refers to #P01135809 ? The indictment says so:
“In Arizona, and the United States, the people elected Joseph Biden as President on November 3, 2020. Unwilling to accept this fact, Defendants and unindicted coconspirators schemed to prevent the lawful transfer of the presidency to keep Unindicted Coconspirator 1 in office against the will of Arizona’s voters.”
This needs to be layered in on top of similar indictments in Georgia (where the pretrial process is ongoing), Nevada, and Michigan. A similar criminal investigation is underway in Wisconsin, although it has not yet resulted in any indictments.
Because #P01135809 is wealthy enough to hire a bevy of lawyers to fight for him in these cases as well in his other three criminal cases (New York, DC, and Florida) (although he resists paying his lawyers and makes them do stupid stuff, so there’s a lot of turnover on his “team”), progress toward accountability has been agonizingly slow. The TL/DR on these cases is that #P01135809 and his aides participated in a vast conspiracy to reverse the results in the 2020 election by claiming that it had been stolen and that people who had supported #P01135809 had an obligation to Stop the Steal – a “steal” which has never been proven in court despite 61 different efforts to do so.
So what about 2016? This week we can follow an almost real-time transcript of the case in New York, where #P01135809 is charged with conspiring to interfere in the 2016 election by employing illegal means to kill stories about his relationships with women – in particular Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal – because they would have derailed his presidential campaign. As a reminder, these stories threatened #P01135809 in the days after the release of the infamous (and noxious) Access Hollywood tape, in which #P01135809 acknowledged that because he was famous he was allowed to sexually assault any woman he fancied. Grabbing somebody by the p***y is sexual assault by any definition, in case you were taken aback by my use of the phrase.
During this trial, we have been reminded about how quickly the Republican Party turned against him when this tape was revealed. Here is a list of some of the Republicans whose immediate reaction to this tape was to turn against #P01135809:
John McCain
Rob Portman
Condoleezza Rice
Mike Lee
Mike Pence
Paul Ryan
Mitch McConnell
Jason Chaffetz
Reince Priebus
Jeb Bush
Ted Cruz
Marco Rubio
Mitt Romney
Jon Huntsman
It is becoming increasingly clear that #P01135809 ’s campaign was in serious trouble after this tape was released, and this week’s testimony from David Pecker, the improbably-named editor of the National Enquirer, adds legitimacy to the claim that the suppression of these stories would likely have ended #P01135809 ’s campaign and made his victory impossible. This information was intentionally kept from the voters so that he could win the election. After these stories came out years later (2018) and it was clear how damaging they would be, #P01135809 and some complicit prosecutors were able to delay this trial until this month.
Now add this to the conclusions reached by two other investigations — the Republican-led Senate Intelligence Committee investigating the 2016 election and the Mueller Report. As I often do these days, I asked Copilot (the Microsoft AI Assistant) to summarize the findings of these investigations (I edited this a little but it is a pretty accurate summary):
The U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence conducted a thorough investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. The committee released a series of reports detailing their findings. The final report, which is the fifth volume, provides an in-depth look at the Russian government’s campaigns and interference. It documents the Russian attack efforts against election infrastructure, Russia’s use of social media to affect the election, the U.S. government’s response to Russian activities, and counterintelligence threats and vulnerabilities.
The report concluded that the Russian government engaged in an extensive effort to influence the 2016 election and had connections with the #P01135809 campaign. It also highlighted the counterintelligence concerns regarding certain Russian efforts that may have persisted into subsequent election seasons. The investigation was bipartisan and is considered one of the most comprehensive examinations of the events surrounding the 2016 election.
The Mueller report also concluded that Russia interfered with the 2016 United States presidential election. The investigation, led by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, found evidence of Russian efforts to undermine the democratic process. While the report did not establish a direct conspiracy or collusion between the #P01135809 campaign and Russia, it confirmed that Russia conducted an extensive influence campaign through social media, hacking, and other means. The report highlighted the seriousness of foreign interference in U.S. elections using several mechanisms:
The Russians used social media platforms to spread disinformation, sow discord, and influence public opinion.
Troll farms operated by Russian actors disseminated divisive content, targeting specific demographics and exploiting existing political tensions
Russian hackers infiltrated the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and other Democratic organizations.
Hackers also leaked sensitive emails and documents, damaging the reputation of Democratic candidates and creating controversy
Russia aimed to suppress voter turnout among specific groups, such as African Americans, by spreading misinformation.
They also targeted state election systems, probing vulnerabilities and attempting to gain unauthorized access
Russian actors attempted to breach state election infrastructure, including voter registration databases.
While no evidence suggests they altered vote tallies, their actions raised concerns about election security
The #P01135809 campaign did not directly collude with the Russians as they undertook these efforts. But #P01135809 and his allies welcomed them. We all remember:
In 2016, during a news conference, #P01135809 made a striking statement that caught widespread attention. He directly called on Russia to find the estimated 30,000 emails that Hillary Clinton had deleted from her controversial private email server while serving as Secretary of State. #P01135809 ’s exact words were: “Russia, if you’re listening, I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing. I think you will probably be mightily rewarded by our press.” This moment occurred amid intense questioning about #P01135809 ’s relationship with Russia and allegations of Russian interference in the U.S. presidential election.
As I was making the final edits on this post yesterday, I realized that he’s doing it again – he’s attempting to pre-steal the 2024 presidential election. I fell asleep last night thinking about how to include this analysis into today’s essay, so here goes. His tactics of delay-delay-delay in his various indictments are nothing more than an effort to win the presidency – again – by misleading voters. He fundraises off of his legal woes by claiming that he is a political prisoner like Nelson Mandela (Google it – he really says this). He sells gold sneakers and swatches of his suits and ties to pay his lawyers. He has installed his daughter-in-law Lara #P01135809 (that’s a bit awkward but I have to play by my rules) at the Republican National Committee to ensure that he gets his piece of the campaign donations pie before any other candidates.
He is attempting to steal the presidency – again – in the same way he stole celebrity status by inventing himself as a good businessman (check out his bankruptcies and the civil verdict requiring him to pay hundreds of millions of dollars to the state of New York because he’s a lying cheating SOB), philanthropist (check out his failed charitable foundation), connoisseur of the final things in life (check out #P01135809 Steaks, #P01135809 water, and the #P01135809 Winery, unironically located a few miles from Monticello, home to Thomas Jefferson, who would not have stayed in the same room with #P01135809), leader of higher education (check out #P01135809 University), faithful Christian (check out the MAGA Bible scam). I could go out but I’m making myself sick.
Yesterday, at least four and possibly five justices of the Supreme Court seemed willing to help him steal the presidency again by forcing additional delay in the January 6 prosecution in Washington, DC. They seemed to entertain the preposterous notion that a President has absolute immunity from prosecution pretty much no matter what he does. His lawyer argued that participating in murder or an effort to overthrow the government could fall within the bounds of his official duties and thus render him immune from prosecution. That argument makes sense in only one place in the world –four or five people who work in the city block on which the Supreme Court building sits, between 1st Street NE, Constitution Avenue (laughable, isn’t it, but in a funny/not funny way), 2nd Street NE, and East Capitol Street.
The women on the Court – including the conservative Amy Coney Barrett – are the most skeptical of the claims by #P01135809’s attorneys that a President has the power to do whatever the hell he wants without any accountability. The women may save us, although it may be too late to keep #P01135809 from stealing the 2024 Presidential election.
It’s up to all of us to Stop the Steal. Tell your friends who just aren’t that wild about President Biden and plan either to boycott the election because they don’t want to vote for the “lesser of two evils” (Another news flash: Biden isn’t evil) or vote for a 3rd party candidate in protest. Their self-righteous posturing will accomplish nothing except to guarantee that #P01135809 is sworn into office on January 20, 2025. It’s not clear yet whether the constitutional republic we all believe in survived his first term in office. We almost certainly would not survive his second term. What kind of country do we want our grandchildren to grow up in?
I’m beginning to believe the old adage, “only the good die young”. Except for Biden. The contrast is so huge you’d think everyone would get it! Your writing must be cathartic for the screams you must have inside. Maybe we should encourage a scream party followed by a laugh party on the shores of Lake Chautauqua!