Rolling Stone:

“Absolutely fucking not,” one of Trump’s advisers on legal matters tells Rolling Stone, succinctly summarizing the advice they gave Trump regarding Capitol Hill testimony — televised or otherwise.

Several of Trump’s attorneys and political counselors have directly told the ex-president this month that any testimony under oath before that panel would be an awful idea for him, according to this source and two other people with knowledge of the matter. The advisers cautioned Trump that committee members would mine his testimony for potential perjury charges, particularly given Trump’s penchant for lying.

Hasn’t everyone always dreamed of being a top adviser to a guy with a demonstrated “penchant for lying?” I know I have. Their mothers must be so proud.

Of course, this isn’t the first time reports have surfaced indicating that Trump wants to testify—presumably live in front of a national audience—for the Jan. 6 committee. A recent story from The Guardian made the same assertion. Unfortunately, no one knows what’s really in Trump’s head, other than three pounds of nougat and the closing credits theme from Baywatch.

But according to Rolling Stone, Trump really is sincere about wanting to testify. Sadly, his handlers have intervened on his behalf.

“It is my hope that we talked him out of it,” one source told Rolling Stone. “The [former] president seemed receptive to our arguments against [it], but with Donald Trump, it can be hard to tell [sometimes] what has actually sunk in or stuck.”

That’s certainly true. About the only surefire way to hold his attention would be to write his name in giant block letters atop an erotic cake made of cream cheese frosting and meatloaf—but the window for giving him advice would be just the three seconds between his getting a whiff of beef and pouncing like a rutting howler monkey.

Rolling Stone also spoke with attorney Ty Cobb, who represented Trump during the Mueller investigation. In other words, he’s someone well familiar with Trump’s “penchant for lying.”

According to Cobb, Trump’s current lawyers absolutely need to save him from himself.

“I don’t think any lawyer who truly has Trump’s best interests, and is not merely following Trump’s orders, at heart could—in his or her right mind—advise him to testify before the Jan. 6 committee,” said Ty Cobb. “It is clear that testifying would be a bad idea, as highlighted by the fact that his initial reaction to the subpoena included a multi-page screed where he repeated the completely discredited theories of the Big Lie. … I would like to believe his lawyers did not see that before it went out, but whether they did or didn’t, each scenario is scary.”

Each scenario is scary? Yeah, welcome to the harrowing post-Trump reality. I’ve certainly been mapping out awful Trump scenarios in my head for the past seven years. It’s exhausting.

Asked whether Trump would risk falling into a so-called “perjury trap” if he agreed to testify, Cobb was unequivocal: “That is absolutely true [… and] Trump is uniquely susceptible to that because he is so easily provoked.”

You don’t say.

Of course, assuming he didn’t shout “Fifth!” the entire time, Trump’s testimony would also likely be a gift to Democrats—and they appear to know it.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi appeared to bait the former president in a recent MSNBC interview, musing that “I don’t think he’s man enough to show up. I don’t think his lawyers will want him to show up because he has to testify under oath.”

From your lips to glob’s ears, Speaker Pelosi.

Come on, Donny. Step up and be a man. Your lawyers work for you! Don’t listen to their cowardly mewling. You’re an expert liar! Who cares if most of your lies can be debunked in eight seconds on Google? Your fans will still believe them. And who knows? Maybe Bennie Thompson and Liz Cheney would, too.

There’s only one sure way to find out.

The single most powerful thing we can do to stop Trump from stealing 2024 is to elect Democrats to key positions downballot this year. Can you chip in $3 or more to support our ELECTION PROTECTION slate?

Check out Aldous J. Pennyfarthing’s four-volume Trump-trashing compendium, including the finale, Goodbye, Asshat: 101 Farewell Letters to Donald Trump, at this link. Or, if you prefer a test drive, you can download the epilogue to Goodbye, Asshat for the low, low price of FREE.

Aldous J Pennyfarthing

Source link

You May Also Like

How to Raise $89 Million in Small Donations, and Make It Disappear

A group of conservative operatives using sophisticated robocalls raised millions of dollars…

Biden’s Bad Day: Snaps at Reporter to ‘Get Educated’ on Roe v. Wade, Demands Another Learn to Count

President Biden lashed out at reporters before traveling to campaign stops in…

“A shimmering stunt”: The problem with US airdrops of food into Gaza

Over the weekend, the United States and Jordan airdropped 66 bundles of…

Why 2022 was a tough year for Trump and 2023 may not be much better | CNN Politics

CNN  —  This must feel like the year that won’t end for…