The upcoming decision by the Supreme Court regarding Trump and whether he was “engaged in insurrection” could affect his many supporters in the House and the Senate, MSNBC opinion writer and editor Hayes Brown noted.
Panic in the GOP
Brown’s opinion is backed by the fact that nearly 200 GOP lawmakers urged SCOTUS to keep Trump on the Colorado ballot. Texas Senator Ted Cruz and House Majority Leader Steve Scalise led the brief, which included 46 Senators. Among them were also Mitch McConnel, and Speaker Mike Johnson.
McConnell’s support
The Kentucky Republican, who has been in the office for almost 40 years, voted against Trump’s second impeachment. Trump’s lawyers argued that he’s immune from prosecution since the Senat acquitted him. But McConnell repeatedly spoke against Trump’s actions and stated, “There is no question that President Trump is practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of that day,” adding, “These criminals were carrying his banners, hanging his flags, and screaming their loyalty to him.”
Inside the brief
Congressional Republicans wrote a 37-page filing that read in part, “It is hard to imagine an actual insurrectionist quickly asking for peace and encouraging disbandment.” This begs the question: what will happen to all Trump-supporting congressional Republicans if SCOTUS finds the former president has “engaged in insurrection?”
Enter Brown’s analysis
“While the GOP lawmakers’ amicus brief is better drafted than most of Trump’s filings, it can’t be ignored that there’s a deeply self-serving element to their arguments,” wrote MSNBC’s Brown. He also pointed out that those in Colorado are especially in potential danger.
Jordan and Biggs take the spotlight
Brown’s analysis further cited one line from the brief: “Although not directly relevant to President Trump, the Colorado Supreme Court would give itself the power to judge the qualifications of those who would be elected to the House or Senate.” He added, “That would be especially troubling for Reps. Jim Jordan of Ohio and Paul Gosar and Andy Biggs of Arizona.”
“Particularly odious”
Brown alleged, “The three of them were knee-deep in plotting to overturn the election, and, in a more just world, they would have faced expulsion for violating Section 3. It’s their inclusion as signatories on the amicus brief that makes this filing particularly odious.”
Cruz in the news
Texas Senator “pitched a 10-day electoral commission to investigate the nonexistent fraud and potentially give state legislatures time to change their electoral slates as Trump would prefer. He never endorsed Trump’s wildest conspiracy theories, but he was caught on audio hoping Biden’s win would be reversed,” Brown stated.
GOP Senators after the 2020 elections
In a joint statement by Senators Cruz, Ron Johnson, John Kennedy, Tommy Tuberville, and others said, in part, “The election of 2020, like the election of 2016, was hard fought and, in many swing states, narrowly decided. The 2020 election, however, featured unprecedented allegations of voter fraud, violations and lax enforcement of election law, and other voting irregularities.”
The request
The group asked for an immediate response, “Appoint an Electoral Commission, with full investigatory and fact-finding authority, to conduct an emergency 10-day audit of the election returns in the disputed states..” They added that “the allegations of fraud and irregularities in the 2020 election exceed any in our lifetimes.”
Cruz and Hawley did not embrace conspiracy theories
Despite their outrage, Anjali Nair noted in 2021, “At no point in their statements or subsequent media appearances do Hawley or Cruz pitch the actual conspiracy theories that Trump’s truest acolytes have spun up as fact even though they have been rejected dozens of times in court.” According to the recording released last year, Cruz hoped Biden’s victory would be overturned but played it safely.
Trying to “normalize” Trump
In an almost accusatory tone, Brown writes, “Beyond being yet another attempt to normalize Trump’s behavior in trying to throw out the election, these arguments necessarily downplay the attempts by several of the brief’s signatories to do the same.” He added, “Jordan, Gosar, and Biggs were well aware of what Trump was attempting to achieve, and despite their oaths to support the Constitution, they still backed him.”
The GOP’s goal
As Brown and several other analysts noted, the brief is not only about keeping Trump on the ballot. The MSNBC’s editor and writer concluded, “It’s also to absolve themselves of their own sins and to inoculate themselves from calls that they, too, face accountability for supporting Trump’s attempt to steal the election.” Read the full analysis.
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