# The American Coup Fallout thread **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [January 20, 2021, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-coup-fallout-thread/931029 "2021-01-20T22:34:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 28
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2021, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-coup-fallout-thread/931029/542 "2021-07-27T20:37:03Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > {…} I wonder if the committee is going to subpoena _(does a committee issue subpoenas or just requests?)_ some of the Republicans who ran from the ~~rioters~~ love-bunnies and hid in their offices and behind their desks? {…} Given my long history of watching hearings just like this, they almost certainly have subpoena powers. But I think, think, they can’t subpoena sitting Congress members. ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2021, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-coup-fallout-thread/931029/543 "2021-07-27T20:47:46Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > The only downside is that this will be used as a pretext for removing democrats from future committees when the GOP regains control of either chamber - and they will. And which they would do whether or not the Dems kept them off the committee. Still I share Uniqueorn’s curiosity as to whether actually having prominant GOP members try to defend the indefensible in the face of witnesses describing their harrowing experiences fully expose the moral bankruptcy of the modern GOP on national television. On the other hand its probably more likely that it would just devolve it into a mess of grandstanding and shouting over eachother, with Fox news showing carefully curated clips that “show” Jim Jordan owning the libs. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2021, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-coup-fallout-thread/931029/544 "2021-07-27T20:47:48Z")
> [@crowmanyclouds](#): > > they can’t subpoena sitting Congress members. AKA, the people who gave inside information, tours and maps to the terrorists beforehand. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2021, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-coup-fallout-thread/931029/545 "2021-07-27T20:52:43Z")
Again given my long history of watching hearings just like this, I’d be more than a little leary about having them testify without actual council doing the questioning. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2021, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-coup-fallout-thread/931029/546 "2021-07-27T23:12:12Z")
No, I don’t buy into the idea that Jim Jordan or any of the other idiots would have succeeded in making themselves look any douchier than they already look. We already saw how their disruptive tactics basically succeeded in confusing the American public. Instead, for once, Americans are getting an opportunity to hear exactly what the officers want people to know. There’s very little that can be spliced and spun from this. It makes the conservatives who did this look horrible. I’m not under any delusions, though, as we tend to have short memories. ---
**Author:** ![velomont](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/8491ac/32.png) [@velomont](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/velomont)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2021, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-coup-fallout-thread/931029/547 "2021-07-27T23:55:02Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > , the insurrectionist party will find a rationalization for what they did But they don’t actually have to rationalize anything as they have so often demonstrated that they can tell blatant, obvious lies; all of those times it has been shown that there is a sufficient critical mass of vile and unethical people that GOP truth is irrelevant. Even if the “normal tourist” and “hugs and kisses” statements were made in front of giant screens showing the worst insurrection scenes, it wouldn’t matter. ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2021, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-coup-fallout-thread/931029/548 "2021-07-27T23:56:41Z")
Slick. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2021, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-coup-fallout-thread/931029/549 "2021-07-27T23:56:44Z")
> [@crowmanyclouds](#): > > But I think, think, they can’t subpoena sitting Congress members. Is this a settled question? There was some talk of them maybe calling MqQarthy to testify about his phone call with Trump. Is that just idle sub-space chatter? ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2021, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-coup-fallout-thread/931029/550 "2021-07-28T00:05:21Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > Is this a settled question? There was some talk of them maybe calling MqQarthy to testify about his phone call with Trump. Is that just idle sub-space chatter? Well, I found this, > **[Live updates: Police officers give firsthand account of Capitol riot](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/live-blog/capitol-riot-january-6-committee-hearing-n1275078/ncrd1275129#liveBlogHeader)** > > At times wiping away tears, four officers detailed the repeated violent attacks by the pro-Trump mob. Rep. Adam Kinzinger, a Republican, was also overcome. Which includes the statement: > Rep. Cheney, among the two Republicans on the select committee, said Tuesday morning that the panel could call Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, as a material witness and could subpoena House Minority Leader McCarthy and even former President Trump. So no, they haven’t forgotten about him. ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2021, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-coup-fallout-thread/931029/551 "2021-07-28T01:46:45Z")
The DOJ won’t defend Mo Brooks. > ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2021, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-coup-fallout-thread/931029/552 "2021-07-28T01:49:39Z")
That link didn’t work for me but this one does: [https://thehill.com/regulation/565175-doj-declines-to-back-mo-brookss-defense-against-swalwells-capitol-riot-lawsuit](https://thehill.com/regulation/565175-doj-declines-to-back-mo-brookss-defense-against-swalwells-capitol-riot-lawsuit) > [@](#): > > One section of the legal brief has a heading that reads, “Instigating an attack on the United States Capitol would not be within the scope of a Member of Congress’s employment.” > > A spokesman for Brooks did not immediately respond when asked for comment. ---
**Author:** ![ShadowFacts](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shadowfacts/32/2934_2.png) [@ShadowFacts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShadowFacts)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2021, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-coup-fallout-thread/931029/553 "2021-07-28T01:58:06Z")
That’s really good news. I was reading [an opinion piece in the NY Times](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/18/opinion/merrick-garland-mo-brooks-capitol-attack.html?searchResultPosition=2) (probably paywalled) a few days ago. The authors said: > Mr. Garland’s choice is important in its own right, but it also carries ramifications for cases targeting possible official wrongdoing in the Trump era, including by the former president himself. > The Constitution and laws of the United States are not, as Justice Robert Jackson once warned, a suicide pact. Certification that Mr. Brooks acted within the scope of his job would leave the United States government defending the right of its elected representatives to foment insurrection against itself. > Our future depends on our resolve in adhering to our basic democratic values — among them, that truth is a key to the functioning of our electoral system. And that demands that Attorney General Garland unequivocally reject any notion that a congressman is doing his job when he foments a riot based on lies in order to sabotage a legitimate national electoral process. ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2021, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-coup-fallout-thread/931029/554 "2021-07-28T02:00:17Z")
Thanks, I don’t know why I’m having so much trouble with linking lately. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2021, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-coup-fallout-thread/931029/555 "2021-07-28T02:04:30Z")
That one looked like maybe the tweet got deleted; I don’t think it was anything you did or didn’t do. ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2021, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-coup-fallout-thread/931029/556 "2021-07-28T03:50:02Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > That link didn’t work for me but this one does: The DOJ brief was quite pointed: > [@](#): > > “Instigating such an attack plainly could not be within the scope of federal employment,” the Justice Department brief said. “Violent conduct deliberately undertaken to thwart the employer’s interests cannot be within the scope of employment.” [tents fingers] Excellent. ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2021, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-coup-fallout-thread/931029/557 "2021-07-28T13:30:03Z")
Did anyone hear the nasty voice message that some asshole left for Office Fanone? They played it on CNN. I don’t want to amplify it, so I don’t really want to link to it, but I just can’t believe the ugliness. I would hate to live in a brain so full of that much hatred. He needs help. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2021, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-coup-fallout-thread/931029/558 "2021-07-28T15:00:39Z")
I did. It was indeed horrible. The word “fa\*\*ot” was used a lot, as well as the inevitable N-word. Hatred is all some people have. ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2021, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-coup-fallout-thread/931029/559 "2021-07-28T19:24:35Z")
The 9/11 investigation was horribly biased and one sided as well. The 19 hijackers were all clean and well-dressed. They didn’t smell bad. They waited in an orderly manner at the boarding gate, they weren’t unruly. They boarded the plane politely, without pushing and shoving other passengers and they even fastened their seat belts and turned off their electronics when asked. Yet no one ever mentions this, because they are so intent on making these men out to be nothing but evil and horrible. It’s UNFAIR………… ( In case I really need to say it, the above was sarcasm.) ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2021, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-coup-fallout-thread/931029/560 "2021-07-28T19:29:01Z")
Pelosi was right. You can’t put Banks & Jordan and the committee for the same reason you don’t put suspects on the jury. And shame on him for trying it. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2021, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-coup-fallout-thread/931029/561 "2021-07-28T19:40:09Z")
If those rejected Republicans had been included on the committee, how do y’all suppose they would have attempted to undermine the testimony of the police who were beaten up, knocked down, tased, maced, and otherwise attacked? There’s video to confirm these things happened. Would they say the video was faked? Would they have tried to discredit them by dredging up offenses they committed in elementary/high school? Tweets they’ve sent? Or would they have just indulged in grandstanding to derail the entire proceedings? I guess I’m still looking for how low they will go… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-coup-fallout-thread/931029.md?page=27) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-coup-fallout-thread/931029.md?page=29)