When a Justice Department investigation discredited a key Jan. 6 conspiracy theory, Donald Trump cynically tried to tweak the absurd underlying claim.
https://bsky.app/profile/democracyblue.bsky.social/post/3ldghtrp4w22f
Trump’s effort to move the Jan. 6 goalposts is literally unbelievable
When a Justice Department investigation discredited a key Jan. 6 conspiracy theory, Donald Trump cynically tried to tweak the absurd underlying claim
https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/trumps-effort-move-jan-6-goalposts-literally-unbelievable-rcna184331
Proponents of Jan. 6 conspiracy theories are probably accustomed to embarrassing setbacks, but last week was especially brutal. The Justice Department’s inspector general, Michael Horowitz, unveiled the detailed findings of a four-year investigation, which concluded that while there were FBI informants at the Capitol, no FBI officials were responsible for instigating the attack......
No, I’m just kidding. The president-elect actually published an item to his social media platform, shortly before midnight on Friday night, that cynically tried to move the goalposts.
“Wow! This is big news,” the Republican wrote. “What a disgrace. Let J-6 Hostages out NOW!!!”
This came on the heels of Vice President-elect JD Vance taking a related step, pretending that humiliating news for Jan. 6 conspiracy theorists should actually be seen as evidence that helps Jan. 6 conspiracy theorists.
But these efforts are literally unbelievable. As we discussed last week, too many Republicans and their allies have spent nearly four years pushing the idea that federal law enforcement instigated the insurrectionist assault. The absurd claims grew so common that they were given a name: The “fedsurrection“ narrative was rooted in the idea that it was the FBI, and not Trump’s rabid followers, that was responsible for the violence at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.....
Nevertheless, the incoming president is very likely to reference last week’s revelations when he prepares pardons for Jan. 6 criminals. In fact, as part of Time magazine’s latest cover story on Trump, published last week, the Republican not only said he intends to issue these pardons, he added that he hopes to do so “maybe” within “the first nine minutes” of his second term.
I’m not quite sure how that would work — perhaps he’ll interrupt his own inaugural address? — but time will tell.
As for the nature of Trump's plan, NBC News reported that the president-elect has expressed confusion about key elements — he’s said, for example, that he thinks most or all Jan. 6 defendants were being held in a Washington, D.C., jail, for example, when in fact only a handful of defendants are still being held pretrial — and even some of the Republican’s allies have expressed concern about his “level of awareness of the details.”
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