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When the House select committee investigating the Capitol attack revealed the evidence that showed Republican members of Congress sought preemptive presidential pardons after January 6, one of the most striking requests came from Congressman Mo Brooks.

The request from Brooks to the Trump White House came in an 11 January 2021 email obtained by the Guardian that asked for all-purpose, preemptive pardons for lawmakers involved in objecting to the certification of Joe Bidens election win.

Brooks in the first instance sought preemptive pardons for every Republican who signed the Amicus brief in the Texas lawsuit that sued then-vice president Mike Pence to unilaterally decide whether to certify Bidens win in certain battleground states.

The Alabama congressman also recommended in the email to former Oval Operations coordinator Molly Michael that Donald Trump issue pardons for Every Congressman and Senator who voted to reject the electoral college vote submissions of Arizona and Pennsylvania.

Brooks was one of at least a half dozen Republican congressmen who sought pardons immediately after the Capitol attack. It came after Trump hinted at a blanket pardon for the Jan. 6 thing for anybody, the head of White House presidential personnel John McEntee testified.

But the request from Brooks stands out because he explicitly outlines two groups for whom he was seeking preemptive pardons, opening a window into his thinking and potentially revealing for what conduct he worried that they might have been guilty of a crime.

The reference to the Texas lawsuit is revealing since that suit pushed Pence to commandeer the ceremonial congressional certification to overturn the results of the 2020 election which the select committee has argued amounted to a violation of federal law.

Meanwhile, the reference to Arizona and Pennsylvania is notable since the objections to those states occurred after the Capitol attack, which, seen with Trumps attorney Rudy Giuliani asking senators to keep objecting to stop Bidens certification, could suggest further corrupt intent.

Brooks has rejected the notion that the pardon requests showed any consciousness of guilt, saying in a statement that he feared Democrats would prosecute and jail Republicans who acted pursuant to their Constitutional or statutory duties under 3 USC 15.

The statement referred to the statute governing the congressional certification of the presidential election, at which members of Congress are permitted to raise objections to the results in any of the states.

But the trouble with Brookss statement remains that if he truly believed that Republicans were engaging in only lawful activity on January 6, then he could defend that conduct in court without the need for a pardon.

The select committee at the hearing also showed testimony by Cassidy Hutchinson, a top former aide to Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, who said House Republicans Louie Gohmert, Scott Perry, Andy Biggs and Matt Gaetz also expressed interest in pardons.

Hutchinson recalled that House Republican Jim Jordan did not directly ask for a pardon but did ask whether Trump was going to give them to members of Congress, and that House Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene expressed interest to the White House counsels office.

The testimony by Hutchinson and McEntee and other top White House aides showed that at the very least, Republican members of Congress were concerned about potential legal exposure over their roles in Trumps efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

And the accounts, delivered under oath to the select committee, showed the extraordinary and brazen inquiries by some of Trumps top allies on Capitol Hill to use the power of presidential pardons for their own political and personal ends.

I think the American public understands folks asking for pardons generally feel they did something illegal, select committee member Pete Aguilar told CBSs Face the Nation on Sunday morning of the preemptive pardon requests.

Gohmert had brought the Texas lawsuit while Perry had played a role in Trumps efforts to pressure the justice department to reverse his election defeat in battleground states. Biggs and Gaetz had strategized with Trump about objecting to Bidens certification.

The Republican members of Congress accused of seeking preemptive pardons near-universally rejected the allegations.

Gohmert denied making a request for a pardon. Perry said in a statement that he never sought a presidential pardon for myself or other members of Congress. Biggs said Hutchinson was mistaken and Greene accurately called Hutchinsons testimony hearsay.

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January 6 hearings: if Republicans did nothing wrong, why were pardons sought? - The Guardian US

The biggest story in US politics right now continues to be the state of the Republican Party, and the bottom line is: Its complicated. So its a good time to take a quick tour of developments within the party.

Item: ApollinNew Hampshire has former President Donald Trump losing narrowly to Florida GovernorRon DeSantis in a 2024 primary. There are two ways of looking at this poll. One is that it adds to the evidence, contrary to some speculation, that Trump is hardly a sure thing to win the nomination next time. The other? Its one poll, in one state, more than 18 months before anyone votes. It tells us very, very, little. Ohsure, it lets us know that DeSantis has decent name recognition already. But remember: By the time voters turn out, every significant candidate will be well known. Bottom line: Be wary of anyone who tells you at this point that any candidate is a sure thing to win or to be an also-ran. (And yes, Ive learned the second part the hard way.)

Item: Trump is taking credit for endorsing the winner in the Alabama Senate primary run-off. This is actually more about reporters than it is about the Republican Party. Trump had originally endorsed one candidate, then pulled his support and switched to the polling leader. He did a similar thing in the Pennsylvania governors primary, with a very late endorsement to a big polling leader. Hey, theres nothing wrong with endorsing sure winners. Its part of politics. But any pundit or journalist who buys the idea that the subsequent results say anything at all about Trumps strength within the party or among Republican voters is failing a very easy test. The truth is that Trumps endorsements havent been very effective in moving voters during this election cycle (or, for that matter, previous ones). That doesnt mean Republican voters dont like him. They do. But voters usually like all of their partys politicians.

Item: That Alabama nominee (and almost certainly the statesfuture senator), Katie Britt, is 40 years old. Good job, Republicans! Last year it appeared that theyd be replacing retiring (and elderly) Senator Richard Shelby with someone over 60. All things equal, thats generally a bad idea. The key to having a wide range of ages in Congress is to nominate plenty of young candidates, especially as is the case here for open, safe seats. I just wish Vermont Democrats had the same commitment to choosing someone who can grow into the job.

Item: Senate Republicans continue to be more open to compromise and, basically, acting like normal politicians during this Congress than many people expected. Theyve reached a deal on gun safety. Theres a bipartisan bill rolling out on insulin pricing. And there are small things, too. HuffPosts Jennifer Bendery reportsthat Montana Senator Steve Daines heaped praises onSecretary of the Interior Deb Haaland and her team for their response to flooding at Yellowstone National Park.Its good to see a Republican senator acknowledge such help, because it indicates that the positive, healthy incentives built into the system are working. Too often, Republicans have acted as if any cooperation with Democratic administrations was a mistake because it would tend to make the president more popular and, therefore, cost Republicans in the next election. Such effects in truth are pretty marginal. But its good for their constituents if Democratic administrations have incentives to govern well even in states they wont carry in the next election.

Item: Arizona House Speaker Rusty Bowers, who testified about his commitment to the rule of law and the Constitution beforethe Jan. 6 committee on Tuesday, turned around and said that, if the choice for president in 2024 came down to Trump and President Joe Biden, hed vote for Trump, much to the (understandable) consternation of many Trump opponents. A few things about this. First is that Democrats should recognize that Trump creates almost impossibledilemmas for Republicans. Second, many Republicans have yet to find any way out of that dilemma. Third is that all of this was entirely predictable (and predicted) back in 2015 and 2016, and Republicans should have realized it and dealt with it back then. And fourth is that US democracy needs all the support it can get. Pro-democracy forces should therefore take whatever allies they can find, for as far as those allies are willing to go.

Would it be ideal if folks such as Bowers were prepared to take a stronganti-Trump position, and were willing to completely purge any trace of anti-democraticfeeling from the party? Of course. But real-world politics isnt about ideals. What Bowers did when it mattered counts, and how he spoke up about it counts. Whether hes able to be as strong an ally as one might wish or not.

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Five Notes on the Republican Party's Future - Bloomberg

Robin Ficker is one of the Republican candidates running in the primary for Maryland governor July 19. Read the WTOP interview.

This interview is part of a series of interviews with the Democratic and Republican candidates for Maryland governor in 2022. In these interviews, WTOP asked all the candidates the same or similar questions on education, public safety and crime, jobs and the economy, and transportation. The Maryland primary is July 19.

The candidate: Robin Ficker

Running mate: LeRoy F. Yegge, Jr.

Website: CutMDSalesTax2Cents.com

In the past decade, Robin Ficker, a former one-term state delegate, has lost his fair share of races: He twice ran unsuccessfully for a U.S. House Seat and a state Senate seat, and lost the 2018 race for county executive of Montgomery County.

When it comes to ballot measures, its a different story.

Ive essentially been serving as governor in many ways, because I have placed and this is a Maryland record 25 ballot measures on the ballot in Marylands largest county, collecting 18,000 signatures for each, he says. All told, the measures many of them anti-tax proposals have received more than 2.5 million votes.

In his current bid for governor, Ficker is running on a proposal to cut the state sales tax by 2 cents, which he says will equate to an extra $780 a year in the pockets of Marylanders.

Regarding his recent disbarment relating to his work as an attorney, Ficker chalks it up to having rubbed a couple of judges the wrong way. He adds, Im prepared to represent the people of Maryland in a way that is going to make them prosperous.

The interview below has been edited for length and clarity.

WTOP: As kids have gone back to school this year, there are concerns about everything from mental health, learning, loss, budgeting. And, of course, the Blueprint for Marylands Future is now a part of the education landscape. The next governor is going to have to implement that. What would you do to see that those dollars are well spent and that the blueprint is successful?

Robin Ficker: Well, the first thing Im going to do is cut the state sales tax 2 cents, by one-third giving every Marylander a personal family fiscal stimulus of $780 a year. And then that will act as a lure to bring in the big businesses, all of which every single one of which is shunning Maryland. Once we bring them in, therell be plenty of money to pay for whatever educational blueprint we desire.

WTOP: OK and in the blueprint, what are some of the issues that you feel most strongly about?

Ficker: One issue I feel most strongly about is that its not being said how were going to pay for the blueprint. It seems as though they want to pass property tax increases along to all the local jurisdictions. And as you know, I was successful in Montgomery County in getting a limit on property taxes passed over the opposition of every elected official, which limited increases in property tax revenue to the rate of inflation. But now the blueprint wants far more than that, and people are already having trouble paying their gas bills, their rent, their mortgages we dont need tax increases.

Were not going to shut down the schools in Maryland, I can tell you that. I was the only speaker at the July 2020 Open Maryland rally to call for opening the schools fully in September of 2020. Instead, what happened? Maryland ended up with the lowest percentage of students of any state in the union in actual physical school.

It can be parental choice as to whether or not kids should have to wear masks. But if you want to give a small child a mental concern, the best way to do it is to not let him or her associate with other kids, keep many of them home alone, and then make them wear a big piece of cloth over their face eight hours a day so they cant breathe properly. Were not going to go along with these mandates. If some parents want to have their little kids wearing masks, thats up to them. But its going to be personal choice. Were not shutting down the schools. Its going to be in-person learning, not virtual.

WTOP: Were seeing police accountability boards that are going into effect because of a state law that requires each jurisdiction to do so. What are your concerns with those boards, how theyre being implemented? And what are your thoughts on the need to balance police accountability with also the need to attract and retain police in the county?

Ficker: Well, you know, its the governors job to see that people are safe. And we want police that are doing that. Weve had a tremendous surge of fentanyl across our southern border, coming in unchecked. And as a result, fentanyl is the No. 1 cause of death for people between 18 and 45. Dont bring your fentanyl into Maryland when Robin is governor, I will tell you that. The police should be Officer Friendly, treat the constituents as they would their brother or sister. But, of course, if a criminal is going to act violently, were not going to put up with that. And if you want to act violently go out into the boxing ring or go and play football. But dont bring a gun with you and try to hold up an innocent person.

WTOP: And what about recruitment and retention? There are concerns that policing looks like a less attractive field to many people, or that police who are in and eligible for retirement may be slated to retire early just because of the current climate.

Ficker: I dont know why anyone would like to retire early except maybe if theyre earning a full salary and a second job, in addition to retirement. I think we ought to make the jobs enjoyable. We ought to give them adequate pay to be able to live in the county where theyre working, and we ought to be friendly to the police as they should be to the constituents.

WTOP: I think you hit this at the top, but Ill ask you about it: You know, people are concerned about inflation, housing costs, even apartment prices are very high relative to peoples salaries. What would you do about that?

Ficker: Well, Im the only candidate for governor in either party thats going to have a job strike force that will be in the air within one hour to go out to these multibillion dollar companies that are having multibillion-dollar expansions except theyre all in other states. Theyre not in Maryland.

Just this morning, I saw that Hyundai is having a $7 billion EV battery plant built in Georgia. Why not Maryland? I know that Toyota is building a multibillion-dollar car battery plant in North Carolina. Why not Maryland? Amazon moved to Northern Virginia. Boeing just recently moved in Northern Virginia. Why not Maryland? Apple just decided to build a billion-dollar campus in North Carolina. Google is spending $9.5 billion in capital improvements in 2022. Not one dollar in Maryland.

Marylands Department of Commerce has been asleep. They havent been doing their job. And thats going to change when Robin is governor. Our job strike force is going to bring in these jobs. Were going to go out and talk with these companies that are paying very well but which are shunning Maryland. Each one of these multibillion-dollar companies Microsoft, Nucor Steel, Samsung, Taiwan Semiconductor, Texas Instruments, Toyota, Global Foundries, Amazon, Apple, Facebook theyre all shunning Maryland. Theyre not located here. Maryland is not a business-friendly state. But with Robin, were going to be very friendly and were going to cut that sales tax to act as a lure. No state has ever cut its sales tax before.

WTOP: Governor Hogan has that plan for adding what they call about the managed tolls along I-270 and I-495, redoing the American Legion Bridge. I think everyone recognizes theres a bottleneck there. What are your thoughts on that plan? And what would you do about the Chesapeake Bay Bridge?

Ficker: Well, Im going to make sure that the Chesapeake Bay Bridge is expanded, that the capacity is improved very, very quickly, because Im the only candidate who spent the last two summers on the boardwalk in Ocean City meeting more than 50,000 voters there so far. And I know that people are coming from Pennsylvania, New York, Virginia, North Carolina, West Virginia, New Jersey theyre all coming to Ocean City to spend money that benefits Marylanders. We have to make sure people can get to Ocean City. Its the second-largest city in Maryland in the summertime.

Now, as for 270, I wouldnt be surprised if some of these officials in Montgomery County decide to start issuing parking tickets to people driving on 270 and the Beltway, because were not moving. The road in the northern sections of 270 is the same as it was when I graduated from high school. Come on! Weve got to improve these roads. Urbana has tripled in size and theres been no road improvement. Clarksburg has been built no road improvement. They put a big mall there on I-270. We needed to improve I-270, have some reversible lanes, 20 years ago certainly today.

WTOP: And so it sounds like you want to widen from, say, Urbana 109 up to Frederick.

Ficker: I want to widen from Georgetown up to Frederick; certainly we have to do that. We need to have reversible lanes. Weve got to get Maryland moving. The reason these big companies arent locating here is because were in gridlock. And you know, we need to improve the roads, because people in their cars have freedom to travel that people on mass transit dont. People in their cars can go anywhere they want; they can go any time they want. So we need to make sure that our roads are improved, and that hasnt been done.

WTOP: Would those improvements include that tolling?

Ficker: Well, you know, tolls are not my goal, OK? And I fought the high tolls on the Inter-County Connector, which many people didnt want built and which every day Im thankful that that road was built because I use it. But we need to keep tolls at an absolute minimum if were going to have tolls. But keep in mind that Maryland had the largest gas tax increase in U.S. history in 2013. And we should be using that money to improve our roads, including 495 and 270. Its incredible to me that some of these officials dont want to improve the Beltway. Evidently, theyre not driving on it. But people who are, are really upset by the time they get home, because after working all day, theyre in gridlock for a few hours and then they get indigestion when they come home for supper.

WTOP: Back to the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. There are these plans, for example, right now the EIS, the Environmental Impact Statement. They got a green light on going forward with a plan to add another span alongside the current one. What do you see as the solution there?

Ficker: Something should be done right away. Were not going to be sitting around in Annapolis wondering what should be done. The environmental impact of the Bay Bridge has been studied forever. We know what the environmental impact is. We must widen that environmental transitway We must widen it. Weve got to include more lanes so that people arent backed up for two, three hours in the steaming heat, backed up all the way to Annapolis, or backed all the way back to Grasonville. Come on! Get off it, Maryland, and get this bridge built. It doesnt matter whether its an additional bridge or whether we widen what we have but get off it and get it done.

WTOP: What in your background makes you the candidate of choice for people to serve as governor?

Ficker: Well, you know, Ive essentially been serving as governor in many ways, because I have placed and this is a Maryland record 25 ballot measures on the ballot in Marylands largest county, collecting 18,000 signatures for each. Theyve received 2,537,000 votes, which is more votes than Larry Hogan and Ben Jealous got put together. We imposed term limits; we limited property tax increases; and we kept garbage dumps and sewage sludge trenching out of residential zones. So I have done it. Ive gotten matters passed with all Democratic opposition, although I can work with the Democrats and disagree without being disagreeable.

WTOP: Last question; I have to ask you about it: Recently, you were disbarred. What should a voter make of that?

Ficker: Look, Ive completed 40,000 cases; overturned four state laws in federal court, laws that were passed unconstitutionally. And, you know, my clients love me. I rubbed a couple of judges the wrong way. But theyre opposed to defense attorneys anyway, because were battling them every day. Im prepared to represent the people of Maryland in a way that is going to make them prosperous. Its going to bring in jobs, and its going to reach the jobs that no one else has been able to bring in. Our Maryland Department of Commerce has been asleep. No jobs are coming in here, and we need to get our state moving by improving the transportation.

Interview by Kate Ryan; edited by Jack Moore

Excerpt from:
Meet the Republican candidates for Maryland governor: Robin Ficker - WTOP

The history of presidential debates in the United States

Debates continue to be a significant part of the presidential election process.

WASHINGTON (AP) - A political shift is beginning to take hold across the U.S. as tens of thousands of suburban swing voters who helped fuel the Democratic Party's gains in recent years are becoming Republicans.

More than 1 million voters across 43 states have switched to the Republican Party over the last year, according to voter registration data analyzed by The Associated Press. The previously unreported number reflects a phenomenon that is playing out in virtually every region of the country Democratic and Republican states along with cities and small towns in the period since President Joe Biden replaced former President Donald Trump.

But nowhere is the shift more pronounced and dangerous for Democrats than in the suburbs, where well-educated swing voters who turned against Trump's Republican Party in recent years appear to be swinging back. Over the last year, far more people are switching to the GOP across suburban counties from Denver to Atlanta and Pittsburgh and Cleveland. Republicans also gained ground in counties around medium-size cities such as Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; Raleigh, North Carolina; Augusta, Georgia; and Des Moines, Iowa.

Ben Smith, who lives in suburban Larimer County, Colorado, north of Denver, said he reluctantly registered as a Republican earlier in the year after becoming increasingly concerned about the Democrats' support in some localities for mandatory COVID-19 vaccines, the party's inability to quell violent crime and its frequent focus on racial justice.

"Its more so a rejection of the left than embracing the right," said Smith, a 37-year-old professional counselor whose transition away from the Democratic Party began five or six years ago when he registered as a libertarian.

Empty voting booths are seen in Flint, Michigan at the Berston Fieldhouse polling place on November 3, 2020. (Photo by Seth Herald / AFP via Getty Images)

The AP examined nearly 1.7 million voters who had likely switched affiliations across 42 states for which there is data over the last 12 months, according to L2, a political data firm. L2 uses a combination of state voter records and statistical modeling to determine party affiliation. While party switching is not uncommon, the data shows a definite reversal from the period while Trump was in office, when Democrats enjoyed a slight edge in the number of party switchers nationwide.

But over the last year, roughly two-thirds of the 1.7 million voters who changed their party affiliation shifted to the Republican Party. In all, more than 1 million people became Republicans compared to about 630,000 who became Democrats.

The broad migration of more than 1 million voters, a small portion of the overall U.S. electorate, does not ensure widespread Republican success in the November midterm elections, which will determine control of Congress and dozens of governorships. Democrats are hoping the Supreme Court's decision on Friday to overrule Roe v. Wade will energize supporters, particularly in the suburbs, ahead of the midterms.

Still, the details about party switchers present a dire warning for Democrats who were already concerned about the macro effects shaping the political landscape this fall.

Roughly four months before Election Day, Democrats have no clear strategy to address Bidens weak popularity and voters overwhelming fear that the country is headed in the wrong direction with their party in charge. And while Republicans have offered few policy solutions of their own, the GOP has been working effectively to capitalize on the Democrats' shortcomings.

Republicans benefited last year as suburban parents grew increasingly frustrated by prolonged pandemic-related schools closures. And as inflation intensified more recently, the Republican National Committee has been hosting voter registration events at gas stations in suburban areas across swing states like Arizona, Michigan, Nevada and Pennsylvania to link the Biden administration to record-high gas prices. The GOP has also linked the Democratic president to an ongoing baby formula shortage.

"Biden and Democrats are woefully out of touch with the American people, and thats why voters are flocking to the Republican Party in droves," RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel told the AP. She predicted that "American suburbs will trend red for cycles to come" because of "Bidens gas hike, the open border crisis, baby formula shortage and rising crime."

The Democratic National Committee declined to comment when asked about the recent surge in voters switching to the GOP.

And while Republican officials are quick to take credit for the shift, the phenomenon gained momentum shortly after Trump left the White House. Still, the specific reason or reasons for the shift remain unclear.

At least some of the newly registered Republicans are actually Democrats who crossed over to vote against Trump-backed candidates in GOP primaries. Such voters are likely to vote Democratic again this November.

But the scope and breadth of the party switching suggests something much bigger at play.

Over the last year, nearly every state even those without high-profile Republican primaries moved in the same direction as voters by the thousand became Republicans. Only Virginia, which held off-year elections in 2021, saw Democrats notably trending up over the last year. But even there, Democrats were wiped out in last fall's statewide elections.

In Iowa, Democrats used to hold the advantage in party changers by a 2-to-1 margin. Thats flipped over the last year, with Republicans ahead by a similar amount. The same dramatic shift is playing out in Ohio.

In Florida, Republicans captured 58 percent of party switchers during those last years of the Trump era. Now, over the last year, they command 70 percent. And in Pennsylvania, the Republicans went from 58 to 63 percent of party changers.

The current advantage for Republicans among party changers is playing out with particular ferocity in the nation's suburbs.

The AP found that the Republican advantage was larger in suburban "fringe" counties, based on classifications from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, compared to smaller towns and counties. Republicans boosted their share of party changers in 168 of 235 suburban counties AP examined 72 percent over the last year, compared with the last years of the Trump era.

These included suburban counties across Georgia, Iowa, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Ohio, Virginia and Washington state.

Republicans also gained ground in further-out suburban counties, which the CDC lumps in with medium-size cities and calls "medium metro" more than 62 percent of such counties, 164 in all, saw Republican growth. They range from the suburban counties north of Denver, like Larimer, to Los Angeles-area ones like Ventura and Santa Barbara in California.

The Republican advantage was nearly universal, but it was stronger in some places than others.

For example, in Lorain County, Ohio, just outside Cleveland, nearly every party switcher over the last year has gone Republican. That's even as Democrats captured three-quarters of those changing parties in the same county during end of the Trump era.

Some conservative leaders worry that the GOP's suburban gains will be limited if Republicans don't do a better job explaining to suburban voters what they stand for instead of what they stand against.

Emily Seidel, who leads the Koch-backed grassroots organization Americans for Prosperity, said her network is seeing first-hand that suburban voters are distancing themselves from Democrats who represent "extreme policy positions."

"But that doesnt mean that theyre ready to vote against those lawmakers either. Frankly, theyre skeptical of both options that they have," Seidel said. "The lesson here: Candidates have to make their case, they have to give voters something to be for, not just something to be against."

Back in Larimer County, Colorado, 39-year-old homemaker Jessica Kroells says she can no longer vote for Democrats, despite being a reliable Democratic voter up until 2016.

There was not a single "aha moment" that convinced her to switch, but by 2020, she said the Democratic Party had "left me behind."

"The party itself in no longer Democrat, it's progressive socialism," she said, specifically condemning Biden's plan to eliminate billions of dollars in student debt.

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More than 1 million voters switched to Republican Party over the last year - FOX 9 Minneapolis-St. Paul

Finding signs to worry about the future of American democracy is not hard, but few are quite so painful and acute as the cognitive dissonance displayed by Rusty Bowers this week.

Bowers, the Republican speaker of the Arizona State House, was the star witness during yesterdays hearing of the U.S. Houses January 6 committee. Bowers calls himself a conservative Republican, and he has the record to back that claim up. Like most Republicans, he supported Donald Trump in the 2020 election, but when Trump and Rudy Giuliani tried to pressure him to assist in their scheme to overturn the results of the election in Arizona, where Joe Biden narrowly won, Bowers refused.

He recalled telling Giuliani, You are asking me to do something that is counter to my oath when I swore to the Constitution to uphold it, and I also swore to the Constitution and the laws of the state of Arizona. Speaking slowly and carefully, he later added, It is a tenet of my faith that the Constitution is divinely inspired, of my most basic foundational beliefs. And so, for me to do that because somebody just asked me to is foreign to my very being. II will not do it.

David A. Graham: The paperwork coup

Bowerss testimony was powerful because it was somber, serious, and clearly heartfelt. This is also why it was threatening to Trump, who issued a statement before the hearing even began, attacking Bowers and claiming hed agreed with Trump that the election was rigged. Under oath, Bowers said flatly that Trumps account was false.

And yet in an interview with the Associated Press published yesterday, Bowers also said he would back Trump if he runs for president in 2024. If he is the nominee, if he was up against Biden, Id vote for him again, Bowers said. Simply because what he did the first time, before COVID, was so good for the country. In my view it was great.

Bowers is hardly the first Republican to condemn Trumps coup attempt but also express support for a 2024 run. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell called Trump morally responsible for the January 6 insurrection and crowed to a reporter that Trump had committed political suicide, but now says, I think I have an obligation to support the nominee of my party. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy was initially unsparing in private but quickly prostrated himself before Trump. Former Attorney General Bill Barr, who called Trumps claims about a stolen election bullshit and resigned over them, has said Trump should not be the Republican nominee in 2024 but that he would support him if he were: I believe that the greatest threat to the country is the progressive agenda being pushed by the Democratic Party. Its inconceivable to me that I wouldnt vote for the Republican nominee.

David A. Graham: The tragedy of the Congress

These examples are disheartening but perhaps unsurprising. McConnell has long since proved himself a cynical operator most concerned with building Republican power. McCarthy is a hack out for personal advancement. And Barr, despite his disagreements with Trump on the specifics of the election, subscribes to an authoritarian view of governance that matches Trumps.

But Bowerss ambivalence is more disturbing and perhaps more frightening because his words and actions suggest a greater integrity and seriousness. This is a man who testified that Trump pressured him to break the law and his own religious views in service of an agenda that included, Giuliani told him, lots of theories, but we just dont have the evidence. A man who was subject to threats and intimidation by armed protesters even as his daughter lay dying in his home, and who was falsely labeled a pedophile. A man about whom Trump had lied on the very day of his testimony.

Another of the witnesses yesterday was Brad Raffensperger, the Georgia secretary of state. Raffenspergers testimony was less personally compellingit largely focused on procedural detailsbut Trump arguably treated him much worse. He not only importuned Raffensperger to commit crimes in service of his fraudulent claims, but he also threatened him with prosecution if he didnt. After Raffensperger refused, Trump launched a campaign to defeat him in a primary, though that failed. Yet Raffensperger last year also refused to rule out supporting Trump in 2024.

Read: Brad Raffensperger gets his revenge

Some courageous exceptions to the ambivalence stand out. Senator Mitt Romney, the GOPs most outspoken and consistent Trump critic, has said he will not support Trump if he runs in 2024, as has Senator Bill Cassidy, who also voted to impeach Trump in his second trial. Representative Tom Rice of South Carolina, who voted for the second impeachment, said this month, The only way I would support him is if he apologized to the country for what he did following the election and leading up to January 6something everyone knows wont happen. Days later, Rice was routed by a Trump-backed primary challenger.

But for each of these, there is a Senator Susan Collins, who cannot bring herself to rule out backing Trump in 2024. Most of these Republicans are not fond of Trump, but they are caught in a collective-action problem, waiting for someone else to finish Trump off and spare them the political pain, just as they have been since 2015 and just like McConnell was in January 2022. They see the fate of Tom Rice and decide theyd rather not risk it.

I can hear the objections already: Arent you really just asking conservative Republicans to back Joe Biden for president? Isnt that an absurd and unrealistic ask? It is true that I find Bowerss claim that what Trump did the first time, before COVID, was so good for the country to be badly misguided. Trump was impeached for attempting to blackmail Ukraine to assist him in his campaign. He fired the FBI director for declining to offer personal loyalty. He repeatedly attempted to obstruct justice by interfering with a probe begun after that firing. He couldnt discern the difference between neo-Nazis and counterprotesters. He coddled and subjugated himself to Vladimir Putin.

Barton Gellman: Trumps next coup has already begun

These are, however, policy disagreements. They are worth debating, and I wish Bowers (and everyone else) agreed with me that the facts show Trump was in most respects a disastrous president, but that we expect voters will disagree in a democracy.

And that last phrasein a democracyis the problem here. Trump tried to subvert Americas system of elections in 2020 and 2021, a wide-ranging and elaborate, if not especially sophisticated, coup attempt. As my colleagues Bart Gellman and Jennifer Senior have reported, Trump and his allies have already begun laying the groundwork for another coup attempt in 2024.

As another of my colleagues, Juliette Kayyem, wrote recently, the January 6 hearings offer an off-ramp to Trump-ambivalent Republicans. But not enough of them are taking it. Many Republican leaders have talked themselves into the position that the policy views of Democrats are so dangerous, or Trumps policies are so good, that it is more important to support him than it is to defend the basic process of democracy.

Yascha Mounk and Roberto Stefan Foa: This is how democracy dies

This is partly a product of an era when the parties are further and further apart on policy; partly a product of an era of affective polarization, in which partisans are driven as much by hatred of their political adversaries as affinity for any cause; and partly a result of diminished attachment to democratic ideals among voters around the world.

Once youve decided that your specific policy planks are more important than ensuring that the fundamental system survives, however, the result sooner or later is a government that has no interest in the will of the people. Imagining this doesnt take much creativity: After the 2020 election, Trump tried to ignore the will of the people and remain in power. He was stopped only by the courage of people such as Rusty Bowers. If even Bowers is willing to back Trump again, despite his eloquent condemnations, the outlook for popular democracy is very bleak.

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Rusty Bowers and the Republican Trump 2024 Conundrum - The Atlantic