I guess I need to run this down. On January 5th, 2021, Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa apparently believed and announced that Mike Pence would not be presiding over the counting of the Electoral College votes, which is the constitutional duty of the vice-president.
GOP Sen. Chuck Grassley on Tuesday generated a whirlwind of confusion among reporters and on social media after suggesting that Vice President Mike Pence would not preside over the Electoral College certification on Wednesday.
“We don’t expect him to be there,” Grassley, 87, initially said of Pence, per Roll Call. As president pro tempore of the Senate, or the second-highest ranking official of the chamber, Grassley suggested he would stand in for Pence.
Why would Senator Grassley have been under the impression that he, not Pence, would be overseeing the opening of the envelopes. And was he using the royal “we” or were there other senators who believed Pence would opt out?
This confusion was quickly forgotten because Grassley issued an immediate retraction and then the next day everyone was focused on the storming of the Capitol and not on what been a mere blip in the news cycle on January 5th.
But within minutes, Grassley backtracked. “Every indication we have is that the vice president will be there,” Grassley’s office said, Roll Call reported.
After the confusion, Grassley’s office said that the Iowa senator was simply trying to explain what would happen if Pence had to step away.
I think we can see why the Republicans would not authorize an independent commission to investigate the January 6th coup attempt. There was clearly a level of complicity that won’t stand scrutiny. Grassley should be deposed by the congressional investigators to find out who we was talking to, what they told him, and how many other senators were in on the plot.
This almost certainly ties in in some way to the briefing several senators and House members received on January 4th which involved a PowerPoint presentation that outlined a plan to steal the election from Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.
Former Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows turned over to the House select committee investigating the 6 January Capitol attack a PowerPoint recommending Donald Trump to declare a national security emergency in order to return himself to the presidency.
The fact that Meadows was in possession of a PowerPoint the day before the Capitol attack that detailed ways to stage a coup suggests he was at least aware of efforts by Trump and his allies to stop Joe Biden’s certification from taking place on 6 January.
The PowerPoint, titled “Election Fraud, Foreign Interference & Options for 6 Jan”, made several recommendations for Trump to pursue in order to retain the presidency for a second term on the basis of lies and debunked conspiracies about widespread election fraud…
…The PowerPoint was presented on 4 January to a number of Republican senators and members of Congress, the source said.
But I’m not aware of an outline involving Grassley substituting for Pence. What would be the point? Was Grassley prepared to do what Pence would not, and facilitate a coup?
We should already know these things, but I suppose the truth will come out eventually. I’m just not sure enough people will care.
Yeah…Maybe a future, intrepid Ken Burns type, doing an historic documentary for some thriving democracy in the 22nd century, will report all the details on this. And those residents of that democracy will just shake their heads in amazement at how easily The Great American Experiment collapsed after thriving for over 230 years.
I can imagine a scenario where Pence was whisked away from the Capitol when the insurrection began searching for him to hang him, something he clearly thought was possible because he refused to allow the Secret Service detail to remove him from the site, presumably not then to return. Grassley could have “regretfully stepped in” to fulfil the role Pence could not because he was not present, and then Grassley would do Trump’s bidding. Years ago I thought Grassley was a serious person, but he clearly is only an operative.
“I’m just not sure enough people will care.” There’s the rub. Republicans not only don’t care, many think the attempted coup was warranted.
The steady drip drip drip of Republican perfidy is the water torture! I thought after Biden was sworn in I could at least start watching the news. Instead, I have switched off watching even the modicum of news that I used to watch (MSNBC mainly) – now watching Dexter, and Narcos Mexico… much more pleasant and does not induce nightmares for me!