Everything in That Memo Could Still Happen Because Our Government Is Too Afraid to Confront It
WASHINGTON—Before we go spelunking off into the Great Cave of Shenanigans down here, it’s probably important to note that, at least in the area of issuing subpoenas, the special committee tasked with looking into the insurrection of January 6 is not letting the carpet grow under its feet. From the New York Times:
The subpoenas indicated that the committee was trying to delve deeper into their investigation of the rally, when thousands came to the Capitol as Mr. Trump tried to pressure Congress and his own vice president, Mike Pence, to overturn the election results. The pro-Trump group Women for America First organized the gathering at the Ellipse on Jan. 6, when an agitated audience listened as Mr. Trump made clear that he was furious with Mr. Pence for resisting his plan to undermine the election and that he wanted the crowd to go to the Capitol immediately afterward in protest.
The panel sent subpoenas to Amy Kremer, the chairwoman of Women for America First, which helped plan the rally near the White House on Jan. 6; Caroline Wren, a Trump fund-raiser, who was listed as a “V.I.P. adviser” for the event; Cindy Chafian, another organizer; Hannah Salem Stone, who managed logistics; and Justin Caporale, a former top aide to Melania Trump, the first lady, who was listed as a “project manager” for the rally.
The committee also sent subpoenas to Katrina Pierson, Mr. Trump’s former national campaign spokeswoman; Kylie Jane Kremer, the daughter of Amy Kremer and the director of Women for America First; Lyndon Brentnall, the owner of a Florida-based security company who was the “on-site supervisor” for the rally; Maggie Mulvaney, a niece of the former top Trump aide Mick Mulvaney, who is listed on the permit for the event; Megan Powers, an operations manager; and Tim Unes, whose company was listed as the stage manager for the gathering.
The vigor with which the committee has been dropping paper on people in this matter is an indication that it is not only content with examining the events of that day, but also the festering bog out of which they emerged. And looming over all of it is the long shadow of the Eastman Memo, the six-point process proposed by a Trump campaign lawyer through which then-Vice President* Mike Pence could finagle the certification process in such a way as to overturn the result of the 2020 election. Pence was curious enough about this notion that he sought guidance from Dan Quayle, who reminded Pence at length why everyone still remembers who Benedict Arnold was. This should still be at or near the top of the news, and the fact that it’s not is prima facie evidence that January 6 gave the major institutions of our government a glimpse at a fundamental ongoing crisis that those institutions remain too terrified even to contemplate. No proposal in the Eastman Memo has been obviated by subsequent legislative or judicial action. The door to the republic’s mausoleum remains unlocked.
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