Has Trump finally started to eat his own tail? Is he the dog that caught the car? Are there ten million more cliches that imply Trump’s ego has finally powered up the “self-destruct” process? Yes, it appears so, given that Trump nonchalantly tossed out the idea of answering the subpoena if he could testify live. The man who believes his life is a television show and that ratings matter more than facts wants to go “Super Bowl” in testifying live to the Committee. Except, the Committee wasn’t really supposed to say yes. Somewhere deep in Trump’s brain, he was surely counting on the Committee to be the adults who say “No.” Instead, the Committee might maturely hold him to account by granting his wish:
From ABC News, Adam Kinzinger drops a bomb:
The House Jan. 6 committee investigating last year’s Capitol riot would need to negotiate with former President Donald Trump if he were to offer to testify live in response to the panel’s subpoena, Rep. Adam Kinzinger said Sunday.
“I think that’s going to be a negotiation,” Kinzinger, R-Ill., a member of the committee, told ABC “This Week” anchor George Stephanopoulos. “I’ll only address that when we know for sure whether or not the president has tried to push to come in and talk to us live.”
Sounds like an open door, yes?
Video of Kinzinger:
Having already noted that Trump could seal his own demise by convicting himself on a dozen charges in his opening statement (He will go off-script within 20 seconds), there are reasons for the Committee to be cautious, and that’s what Kinzinger means when he says “negotiations.”
There won’t be a judge in command of the room, no one to shut Trump up, nor anyone to say, “The witness will answer the question… ” with the threat of throwing him in jail in contempt if he doesn’t. Trump could ignore the questions entirely and start spewing about unrelated topics. Granted, he’s likely to convict himself of two dozen more felonies in doing so, but he will surely dodge questions. There is a well-known cure for such a hostile witness. One asks a very simple question, and when Trump takes 2:00 minutes or whatever to do anything but answer the question, the attorney or representative utterly ignores the answer and calmly asks the question again, same words, and same tone, and continues to do so for 20 minutes and then say “I see that you cannot answer the question.” If Trump testifies live, the examination should be done by a very experienced trial attorney, not the representatives themselves. Each question is too valuable and should go through someone who does this twice a month for high stakes.
Ultimately, though, so long as Trump is on a clock, the Committee stands far more to gain than Trump.
Trump is not smart. He is not well-educated. He will not see the trouble coming in certain questions. His arrogance is unbounded. His belief that he can persuade anyone of anything is one of his most dangerous characteristics. He is furious, beyond furious. He is not in control and will be grasping to get some control of the process… this all adds up to the worst nightmare any defense attorney could have and most doom any “defendant,” even if unknowing.
Given that the Committee is made up of nine dispassionate members, all of whom are more centered, more fully evolved, intellectual, better educated, not there for their own glory, and committed to a noble cause, leaves one with the certainty that whatever the risks (which are real) they are outweighed by the dream opportunity granted by putting the world’s most prolific and horrific liar on the stand.
It is all in the negotiations. Get a clock to limit each answer to two minutes or one. Thirty seconds. It is the principle negotiation. Oh! And try to do it prior to the elections, please? The more the country is covered in a Trump-lit grease fire, the better for Dems.
@JasonMiciak believes a day without learning is a day not lived. He is a political writer, features writer, author, and attorney. He is a Canadian-born dual citizen who spent his teen and college years in the Pacific Northwest and has since lived in seven states. He now enjoys life as a single dad of a young girl, writing from the beaches of the Gulf Coast. He loves crafting his flower pots, cooking, and currently studies philosophy of science, religion, and non-math principles behind quantum mechanics and cosmology. Please feel free to contact for speaking engagements or any concerns.