Trump’s Legal Team Strikes Again
This time calling for Chris Krebs to be shot.
Via The Bulwark: Trump Lawyer: Former DHS Senior Official Should Be Executed
DiGenova, appearing on the Howie Carr show, which simulcasts on Newsmax, took aim at Krebs as an aside during a wheels-off segment full of false claims about how the United States election had been rigged.
“Anybody who thinks that this election went well, like that idiot Krebs who used to be the head of cybersecurity [for Trump]. That guy is a class A moron. He should be drawn and quartered. Taken out at dawn and shot,” diGenova said.
[…]
And while it may read like a macabre joke, the direct nature of diGenova’s comments make it impossible to interpret as anything other than a real wish/threat against a public servant for offering truthful testimony.
Chris Krebs was the Trump-appointed Director of the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) within the Department of Homeland Security.
Krebs was fired for stating that the 2020 election was secure and for tweeting things like “America, we have confidence in the security of your vote, you should, too.”
Krebs did his job, and since reality contradicted Trump’s preferences, Trump fired Krebs. It was a brazenly authoritarian move: when you don’t like the message, fire the messenger. It is using raw, petulant power to try and trump reality.
No doubt if diGenova is defended, it will be written off, like so much of grossness of this administration and it allies, as a “joke.” But, of course, having an attorney for the President of the United States make such “jokes” is low class at best an incitement to violence at the worst. This is the kind of thing wherein the words of political elites can very much activate and help radicalize persons on the fringe. They have already been told for weeks that the election is being stolen by nefarious actors. Providing them with a target is maliciously irresponsible.
Here’s an idea: if diGenova has evidence of fraud or other irregularities, how about presenting it in court instead of going on TV to spout threats and nonsense?
The ongoing degradation of our politics by this group is unrelenting, disgusting, and will leave long-term damage.
Clearly, the bar associations of any states where deGenova is licensed should inform him that they were only joking when those licenses were granted.
When you make a no bottom talking head like Howie Carr cringe you’ve leapt across a broad, broad line. If something happens to Krebs, I hope his family sues deGenova for all he’s worth.
Apparently citizen diGenova is a disciple of the Huckabee/Barton school of education.
@Sleeping Dog:
It’s hard to think of anyone more in the tank for Trump than Carr is.
A few days ago, someone here observed that diGenova seemed to be trying to stay in the background
Guess not.
Would that be Joseph Di Genova who acted as lawyer for one Dmitry Firtash?
It’s getting like you can’t throw a rock without hitting a “connected” oligarch these days.
Just a reminder, Di Genova and Toensing launched their careers as TV lawyers being daily panel participants in Geraldo Rivera’s coverage of the OJ Simpson trial. They started on the low road and went down from there.
You’d think a lawyer would know better than to leave himself open to a libel suit.
@JohnSF: “It’s getting like you can’t throw a rock without hitting a “connected” oligarch these days.”
It’s clear by now that the US GOP and the Russian leadership are very tightly coupled.
@Kathy: “You’d think a lawyer would know better than to leave himself open to a libel suit.”
Or disbarment, or criminal charges.
I think that the strongest force in all of these matters is that these people all believe that there will be zero consequences – legally, economically, reputationally.
@Barry:
To be fair, they’re not wrong to think that. For decades now, this sort of blatant disregard for the law has been rewarded, not punished by the establishment and base alike. The few who have gotten their hands slapped have quickly found succor among their brethren. Career haven’t been ruined, they’ve been reroute to the wingnut walk. Jail time gets mitigated – even if you serve, it’s seen as a badge of honor when you get out and you get cushy positions in think tanks or private group.
What consequences should they fear? Who’s going to hold them accountable and even then, will any censoring or punishment hold any true weight?
There’s no “at best” here. This is incitement pure and simple. It’s like yelling fire in a country crowded with armed, aggrieved militants.
Somebody is going to get killed. And if the country’s karma is what it has been of late, that somebody is going to be an innocent bystander to this intra-Republican squabble.
@KM:
Scooter Libby
After outing covert CIA agent Valerie Plame, Scooter Libby was convicted of Obstruction of Justice and Lying to Federal Investigators (where have we heard those before). His sentence was commuted by President George W. Bush and in 2018 he was pardoned by President Trump. While initially he was disbarred, he has now regained his law license and works as a Senior Vice President at the Hudson Institute and serves on various quasi public panels/boards (Blue Ribbon Study Panel on Biodefense).
@Scott F.:..Somebody is going to get killed. And if the country’s karma is what it has been of late, that somebody is going to be an innocent bystander to this intra-Republican squabble.
Unarmed citizens have already been shot dead by Kyle Rittenhouse. Are you saying that those Americans are dead as a result of karma (whatever that means) and Rittenhouse was subject to supernatural forces when he pulled the trigger?
Di Genova now claims he was only being SARCASTIC and meant no actual harm to befall Krebs.
The best comment came from Kreb’s attorney:
Typical…the Trump Cult is all about talking big, and then caving…
Three strikes, and you’re out. Trumpolini’s legal team has struck out more than 30 times after the election.
@Daryl and his brother Darryl:
That was fast, Krebs’ was prepared to sue (I read that on Politico) and he was vocal that he has some very good attorney’s who have his back (unlike folks like Trump, who has Giuliani).
The GOP is just one big example of cowardice nowadays. Also, maybe the GOP will need to re-think how helpful it can be to still kiss up to Trump if all he brings to the table is the ability to convince Republicans not to vote for their team (I can not believe that what should have been in the bag, the GOP winning the run-off elections in GA, is now something they have to fight to win).
I think the GA imbroglio started by Trump will start to get the GOP to wonder what Trump really brings to the table. At the moment, he is just good at getting people riled up but actually getting them to the polls…it seems Trump has given up on trying to that otherwise he would not be constantly harping on how the election was riddled with fraud and nobody should trust the system.
This is not helpful to the GOP and I wonder if via back-channels someone is trying to get through to Trump that he is not doing a good job convincing folks that he should remain relevant in the GOP when Jan 21 rolls around. Trump needs to course correct rather quickly as time is running out.
@CSK:
If he was sensible, since the election Mr DiGenova would be trying so hard to be in the background, right now he’d be considering changing his name, taking a camping holiday in Alaska, followed by a prolonged sabbatical in a Trappist monastery.
Instead the man who co-starred with Giuliani, Parnas, and Fruman in “Ukraine! The Road Trip” is busy jumping up and down yelling “Woohoo! Over here mister FBI man! Look at me!”
What a twerp.
@JohnSF:
Well, given all the attention Rudy and Sidney and Jenna are getting, I suppose we can’t expect Joe to do the sensible thing, can we? These people love publicity as much as Trump does. Even bad publicity.
@CSK:
A cynical little thought just hopped bunny-like across the meadows of my mind:
What are the chances Trump has promised Giuliani and DiGenova pardons after these games are over provided they keep going.
Gawt Damn that mustache has a distinctive pedo flavor to it—- he went full white van down by the river.
@JohnSF:
Could be.
But…diGenova claims that he was “just joking” about Krebs.
That’s what they all say.
@Jim Brown 32:
But it is Movember
As witness Jonny May.
@KM:
Which is why Trump has to be prosecuted. Let Biden stay aloof. Don’t go after anything that can reasonably be construed as a political difference, but go after any criminality. There appears to be plenty to go after both during and before his term. Prove to him that anyone with his history shouldn’t have stuck his head up so far. And go after his kids and associates. KM is right. We have so much venality in high places because we tacitly approve it.
It appears Rudy Colludy is already floating the idea of Trump giving him a “pre-emptive pardon”.
You know, all this talk of pardons….I like President’s who don’t have to pardon themselves, their family, and their entire goddamn administration and campaign team.
I always considered that to be a given, but look how far we’ve fallen. 😐
@Mister Bluster:
‘Karma’ may have been a poor choice of words as I meant no deferral to supernatural forces. Rittenhouse’s victims are who I’m thinking about. It’s just that when the sh!t goes down in the US these days, it’s never the bad actors who end up bearing the brunt of it.
You know the old joke about the lawyer and the shark?
I doubt this guy would get the professional courtesy.
I suspect that diGenova’s ‘apology’ will be along the lines of:
“I’m sorry, I misspoke, I meant to say, ‘taken out at dawn and shot,’ after all drawn and quartered is excessive.”
I’ll say it again, Trump’s Reichstag Fire Hostile Takeover Election in 2o16 brought a lot of festering hostility right out into the open. A lot of damage has been done, and with about 50 days to go, a lot more can and will be done. I wish Biden well, but it’s going to be a brutal takeoff.
@DrDaveT: You are correct! Georgetown University should rescind his degree and I have already called into the office of Disciplinary Counsel for attorneys admitted to the DC Bar and filed a complaint against him.