Monday, June 27, 2022

Kristol Ball

Haven't given you all a good pundit prediction in a good long time, so here's one, with reference to tomorrow's surprise Select Committee session, 

to hear what the panel called “recently obtained evidence” and take witness testimony.

The hearing is scheduled for 1 p.m., according to a news release issued by the committee, in which it provided no other details about the surprise session.

Hearing some ideas of the usual celebrity golf type about the identity of the mystery witness—is it Ivanka? Is it Eric? or Alex Holder, the Brit filmmaker who has been making a documentary on the Trump family—

and worst of all, is it Ginni? as if Mrs. Thomas had enough of a grasp on reality to know anything at all (what her text exchanges with Mark Meadows show is that Meadows was pretty anxious to keep her sweet and make her feel heard (that is he didn't want her complaining about him to Trump), but not to carry out any of her suggestions or (more important) give her any information. If she does know something she's way too addled to be a useful witness. 

But there was this one idea that impresssed me:

That sounds plausible—Alexander's evidence for the committee is certainly "recently obtained"—and of course (motivated reasoning alert) that's what I'd really like to be true, because Alexander—organizer of the "Stop the Steal" movement in particular close touch with Proud Boys, Oath Keepers, Michael Flynn, Congressmembers seeking pardons (at least Mo Brooks, Paul Gosar, Andy Biggs, and conceivably drunk doctor Ronny Jackson) and especially ratfucker Roger Stone, the single person I would much rather imprison than Trump.

Alexander has provided the Committee with testimony before now, contrary to my tweet; he's been cooperating for a while (since back in December), but the three hours he gave them on Friday could easily have been on something new, related to all the new stuff about the Capitol invasion and its direction from outside the Capitol, or about its social organization as represented by the 47 participants in a group call of 30 December 2020, the time around which Thursday's hearing was focused.

It was known as F.O.S. — or Friends of Stone — and while its members shifted over time, they were a motley cast of characters.

There were “Stop the Steal” organizers, right-wing influencers, Florida state legislative aides and more than one failed candidate loyal to former President Donald J. Trump. One participant ran a website that promoted disinformation about the Capitol attack. Another was an officer in the Army Reserve allied with Michael T. Flynn, Mr. Trump’s former national security adviser.

At least three members of the group chat are now facing charges in connection with the riot at the Capitol in January 2021. They include Owen Shroyer, the right-hand man of the conspiracy theorist Alex Jones; Enrique Tarrio, the onetime chairman of the Proud Boys; and Stewart Rhodes, the leader of the Oath Keepers militia.

Update: Bad call, Alexander is busy with the grand jury today.

Looks like this one:

She's terrific, judging from video of her we saw last Thursday (she was the one who listed all the congresscritters scrambling for pardons; asked about Marjorie Taylor Greene, she said, "I didn't interact much with Marjorie Taylor Greene.' making a really droll face). Her old boss Meadows is as central to the conspiratoriality as Alexander or more so—he was in the Oval Office, Alexander on the phone with Roger Stone, and I think Stone did more than Trump. Maybe DOJ is working my angle while the House Committee is working yours.

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