A big shout-out to everyone who has contributed to the annual fundraiser this year. I’m blown away by your generosity and kindness. In times like these it matters more than ever that we all stick together and I am so very grateful that you are sticking with me.
Things are already getting weird in DC. As I wrote earlier, the infighting over the budget has already begun with the co-President Elon Musk threatening GOP members with primaries unless they agree to shut down the government until the congress comes in (apparently failing to understand that they will have an even smaller majority in the House than they do now.) We’re back to the tried and true GOP strategy of “if I hold my breath until I turn blue I will get what I want” and it doesn’t ever work out. So stay tuned for that.
But the Trump Vengeance and Retribution Tour has officially begun as well, which will probably dominate the news once the new congress convenes. And the opening salvo is a House investigation into … Liz Cheney, who is apparently enemy #1.
The NY Times reports:
House Republicans on Tuesday said their one-time colleague, former Representative Liz Cheney of Wyoming, should face a criminal investigation for her role on the select committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.
A 128-page report from the House Administration Subcommittee on Oversight said Ms. Cheney should be investigated for witness tampering. It accuses her of colluding with Cassidy Hutchinson, the former White House aide who became the committee’s star witness as it examined Donald J. Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
The report — released as Mr. Trump, now the president-elect, has been promising retribution against his political enemies, including Ms. Cheney — accused Ms. Cheney of using the select committee as a tool to attack Mr. Trump. It was spearheaded by Representative Barry Loudermilk of Georgia, the chairman of the oversight subcommittee.
Ms. Cheney defended her work on the select committee in a detailed statement, and called the Republicans’ report “a malicious and cowardly assault on the truth.”
Her full statement:
Update: Don’t watch this if you’re in a public place because you may want to scream “shut up, shut up, shut up!!” and throw your phone across the room. It’s Lara Trump saying Cheney must go to jail, calling January 6th a hoax.
I suspect that they chose Cheney first out of the box as a warning to any apostate stragglers in the caucus. It’s also possible they think she will have no popular support because lefty Dems still hate her while Republicans also loathe her for her heresy against the Dear Leader. I’m not so sure about that.
It’s hard to imagine that this will go anywhere criminally because she didn’t commit a crime. In fact, if anyone was witness tampering it was Trump and his lawyers who were telling Hutchinson to keep her mouth shut. But this will play out as big drama on Capitol Hill. I would even expect Cheney to testify in an open hearing and if I am any judge I also expect she will probably be as good as Hillary Clinton was during the Benghazi hearings. They should be careful what they ask for. However you feel about Cheney, she’s tough as nails.
So, this is just a preview of what we’re in for. I would have thought we’d have a little bit of a break from the crazy until Trump actually gets in office but no such luck. So stay tuned.
If you’d like to help keep this old ship afloat for another year, you can hit one of the buttons below or send something to address on the sidebar. I think we’re going to have our work cut out for us.
Hang in there everybody. It’s going to be a very bumpy flight.
cheers,
digby
And Happy Hollandaise!