What Coup Evidence Is Trump's Flack Sitting On?

Stephanie Grisham witnessed Trump fomenting violence and plotting a coup, but didn't report him at the time. She should turn state's evidence now.
By Michal Spocko — October 10, 2021

Last week Stephanie Grisham was on CNN pushing her new book. She said that Trump was fomenting violence and that he was essentially trying to stage a coup. Jake Tapper asked her if she had talked to the 1/6 commission. She said no, but that she would if they, "reached out."

This passive response from someone who likely witnessed multiple crimes for YEARS drives me nuts. I think William Rubin said it best in the comments section of the clip:

The entire world knows he was fomenting violence. The actual problem is that these Hindsight Whistle Blowers never say anything under oath or on the record until it becomes obvious that they have nothing left to gain from their relationship with the Orange Groppenfuhrer.

We know that former Trump staff are going to write books. They'll be careful not to incriminate themselves, but they might incriminate others. So what can we do about it? I have a couple of ideas. 

First, send early copies of the books to the DOJ, state AGs and various committees investigating the Trump White House. Then, since they won't want to wade through the self-serving crap to spot the crimes;  send advanced copies of these books to former prosecutors and US attorneys.

Specifically, send them to people with podcasts and those who are experts on cable news shows! They could read the books with an eye to spotting crimes and prosecution-worthy actions.

I'd listen to a podcast focusing on the laws likely broken in a Trump staffer's book.  (I do find it frustrating listening to former US attorney Preet Bharara's podcast explaining all the reasons how someone could wiggle out of something or why a prosecutor probably won't bring charges. That's why I like to hear former prosecutor Glenn Kirshner who will say why a prosecutor SHOULD bring charges.)

Also, since the people in the book aren't writing under oath, the former prosecutors could suggest who to interview, under oath, about certain events the former staffers wrote about.

People like Grisham and Omarosa aren't experts on the law. They likely witnessed multiple crimes. They might have been told what was happening was legal. Or, they knew it was illegal, and looked the other way hoping the entire admin would never be prosecuted. Former Trump staff might have written about situations where various unindicted co-conspirator were meeting and sending emails to each other -- on private servers. Boom! Subpoenas! 

Now is the the time to take advantage of their ignorance of the law and their desire to make a buck. Use the publisher's desire for more publicity to get advance copies to the kind of people will read between the lines for crimes. 

It's not just ex-staff and former White House members whose books need to be mined for crimes. People complain that journalists like Woodward withhold critical info for their books so they could make headlines and sell more books. Frankly, if they want bigger headlines, the publisher of the book should send early copies to the various committees and the DOJ in appropriate states. They could say:

"Hey, based on our reporting it looks like Trump's staff might have committed crimes in your state. You might want to check it out. People could have lied to our authors, since they weren't under oath when we talked to them. The book is coming out in 2 weeks. You might want to subpoena some people

This would have been great for Carol Leonnig's books on the Secret Service and Trump. In that case I played the role of a former state AGs. I spotted actions taken by Trump's staff that were violations of Oklahoma's COVID-testing reporting laws and New Jersey's mask laws. Leonnig & Rucker wouldn't know it was a violation of specific testing laws. They couldn't, since they weren't allowed access to private data. A state AG could investigate and the committee that oversees the Secret Service could investigate. But only if someone alerted them about the broken laws and said where to look for the evidence.

I've read these books. I know what will make the ears of the TV producers stand up. But I don't know all the laws. I can't read a story about a meeting and, based on the account they are giving, realize that the people were probably breaking laws. A prosecutor can say, "This needs to be investigated to get hard evidence and hear from witnesses under oath."

We now have several books by insiders and journalists about what the Trump admin was doing during the pandemic. Someone needs to read all of those with the goal of identifying the crimes committed, so they can be investigated. I suggest former US attorney Preet Bharara (podcast Stay Tuned , Barb McQuade's (podcast Sister's in Law and Glenn Kirschner. (Podcast, Justice Matterswhich I support on Patreon. He's always talking about what the DOJ should do, this would be an opportunity to specifically help them.)

The PR people promoting the book knew what was "newsworthy" for Grisham's book. It was "Trump got a colonoscopy but didn't want late night comedians to make him the butt of their jokes!" That was covered by all the major late night comedy shows. But when I watched her on CNN I thought, "What does it take to charge someone with fomenting violence? What crimes did she witness? Did she obstruct justice? Was she an accomplice or witness to the planning of the coup?

They are criminals profiting through the sale of their memoirs and other intellectual property. It's too badSon of Sam laws don't apply to these people (Maybe they should!) If they are going to get rich writing about their crimes we should use the book promotion process to help us nail them and their mobster bosses.

Some legal experts need to feed news hosts some good questions. Otherwise we get this disappointing interview by Brian Williams. He refers to Trump's "mishandling" of the pandemic. I think what he did was more than "malpractice."

In the future when I see Trump-era books come out, I want more than juicy "newsworthy" items. I want to know who in the book is being investigated and prosecuted for the crimes they committed!

Can you help us out?

For nearly 20 years we have been exposing Washington lies and untangling media deceit, but now Facebook is drowning us in an ocean of right wing lies. Please give a one-time or recurring donation, or buy a year's subscription for an ad-free experience. Thank you.

Become a subscriber:
 
Make a donation:

If you don't mind the ads and would rather donate, please select one of the options below:

Kindest
Donate via PayPal
Via Snail Mail
payable to: Crooksandliars
528 Palisades Drive
Ste 548
Pacific Palisades, CA 90272

Explore more

Discussion

We welcome relevant, respectful comments. Any comments that are sexist or in any other way deemed hateful by our staff will be deleted and constitute grounds for a ban from posting on the site. Please refer to our Terms of Service for information on our posting policy.

What's Hot

Happening now

Latest from Blue America

Help Make America Blue
Mastodon