Members of the House committee that investigated the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol have warned America for three years to take former President Donald Trump at his word.

Now, as Trump is poised to win the Republican presidential nomination, his criminal trials face delays that could stall them past Election Day, and his rhetoric grows increasingly authoritarian, some of those lawmakers find themselves following their own advice.

In mid-March, Trump said on social media that the committee members should be jailed. In December he vowed to be a dictator on “day one.” In August, he said he would “have no choice” but to lock up his political opponents.

“If he intends to eliminate our constitutional system and start arresting his political enemies, I guess I would be on that list,” said Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-San Jose). “One thing I did learn on the committee is to pay attention and listen to what Trump says, because he means it.”

Lofgren added that she doesn’t yet have a plan in place to thwart potential retribution by Trump. But Rep. Adam B. Schiff (D-Burbank), who has long been a burr in Trump’s side, said he’s having “real-time conversations” with his staff about how to make sure he stays safe if Trump follows through on his threats.

“We’re taking this seriously, because we have to,” Schiff said. “We’ve seen this movie before … and how perilous it is to ignore what someone is saying when they say they want to be a dictator.”

  • ☆ Yσɠƚԋσʂ ☆@lemmy.mlM
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    1 year ago

    LMAO I love how all the libs who’ve been salivating at the idea that Trump might get jailed are now appalled at the idea that Trump would jail his opponents. This is what happens when you start weaponizing your legal system. And before you come here to tell me that the charges against Tump are totally legitimate, I guarantee you that when Trump goes after his opponents, he’ll have no trouble finding dirt on them because all US politicians are corrupt as fuck.

    • Phoenixz@lemmy.ca
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      1 year ago

      The difference being that trump is a criminal who BROKE THE FUCKING LAW COUNTLESS TIMES. He committed multiple frauds, this is not an 'if", he did, period. He sexually assaulted at least.one person, proven, likely many more. This is not a question, this happened. He stole too secret documents from the government, refused to return them, his them and gave them away to god knows who. None of this is open for debate. Other people releasing secret government documents are in prison for life, trump is still free, last I checked.

      None of this has to do with politics, his political opponents had nothing to do with this, this is all his own fucking doing.

      Should I talk about January 6th? I recall trump tweets from the days leading up to that, I remember what he wrote, I remember preparing popcorn to watch the mayhem unfold. I remember him egging them on. EVERYONE INVOLVED IS OR IS GOING TO JAIL. Trump is still out there, still free. Nothing of this has to do with political opponents, these people were judged by the US law and jailed for their crimes.

      Nearly all of trumps cronies friends and people who worked for him are or have been jailed for proven crimes. Nothing to do with politics.

      What does trump want to do? He wants to jail his opponents because they are his opponents. Reality check: being a political opponent is NOT a crime, unless you have a dictatorship, which ding ding ding, trump literally said he wants to have. His words, not mine.

      Seriously, I don’t get it, I don’t get your mental gymnastics. You says that trump will jail them because they are criminals, but WHAT CRIMES? If they committed crimes, they’d already be in jail. These trump cronies are in jail because they committed crimes. Commit a crime, you go to jail. Political colors have nothing to do with that. You literally claim “he will find something”, are you kidding? Are you that daft?

      Come on already, stop behaving like a child.

      • ☆ Yσɠƚԋσʂ ☆@lemmy.mlM
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        1 year ago

        Buddy, your legal system won’t even prosecute literal pedophiles on Epstein list, and here you are pretending that it’s going after Trump because he’s a uniquely terrible criminal. Grow up child.

    • Natanael@slrpnk.net
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      1 year ago

      Letting corrupt politicians go to jail is the opposite of weaponizing the legal system. Letting ONLY everybody but the corrupt politicians go to jail is weaponization.

    • CileTheSane@lemmy.ca
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      1 year ago

      he’ll have no trouble finding dirt on them because all US politicians are corrupt as fuck.

      And this is the problem with "both sides"ism.
      “Sure these Republican politicians are corrupt as fuck, but all politicians are corrupt as fuck. How do I know? Look at the Republicans!”

      They tried this with the whole impeachment of Joe Biden: start an investigation on bullshit and surely they’ll find something because everyone is just as corrupt as they are.

      They found nothing.

  • quink@lemmy.ml
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    1 year ago

    Non-American just double-checking I’ve got his right…

    Private citizen makes actionable credible threat to unlawfully detain legislators, legislators choose to do nothing for about half a year before slowly murmuring without specifics other than “yeah he said it” and “I think he means us”.

    You OK USA? Just checking in.

    • LillyPip@lemmy.ca
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      1 year ago

      https://images.app.goo.gl/fQWwqgb2CPyjUDkM7

      Jokes aside, if the US falls to fascism, it’s gonna be a massive problem for Europe. Imagine fascists in charge of the biggest nation with a history of colonialism, and the world’s largest stockpile of nukes.

      It would be awesome if the other first-world nations started taking this threat seriously, before it’s too late.

      • tarmarbar@startrek.website
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        1 year ago

        European here.

        This comment takes assumption that by “US falling to fascism” you meant Trump taking control of the USA. Please ignore everything if I misunderstood.

        Trump’s among the few US presidents that didn’t start a new war. Source: https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSKBN2A22QR/

        He also scaled down wars in Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq. I AM NOT SAYING THOSE ACTIONS WERE GOOD OR BAD FOR THE USA, or for the rest of the world for that matter. And I’m really not qualified to discuss that.

        This comment is ONLY a direct reply to a concern that Trump’s rule should have Europe worried in the sense that he’ll nuke us.

        Maybe someone else nukes us as a consequence of his inaction, idk. But Trump nuking Europe is what you said, and I disagree.

        • LillyPip@lemmy.ca
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          I’m not talking about trump, actually. He’s just a carnival barker. If he wins the next election, he’ll do whatever his handlers want him to do, which will hasten things. But him losing will not stop the fascist movement in progress. There’s a group of actual fascists who have been working on this for decades. Some are in Congress, some are high up in organisations like the Heritage Foundation and the Federalist Society (writing bills and selecting judges), and others are consultants and advisers.

          I’m actually concerned that when trump loses, people will think the threat has passed. His loss will mitigate it somewhat, but it won’t stop them. A large part of the threat is Christian nationalists in Congress, the Supreme Court, and in many other seats of power throughout the country.

  • Alex@infosec.pub
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    1 year ago

    It is good to see that people are finally talking about this outside of twitter.

  • axont [she/her, comrade/them]@hexbear.net
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    They’re preparing to do what? Tut tut and issue a statement? Impeach him a third time and fail again to remove him from office? The Democrats don’t believe in anything

    If they actually believed Trump is the next Pinochet they’d hire someone to kill him. Or they’d go after one of the legit crimes he did rather than anything he’ll just slip out of. Biden could get the national guard to burn down Mar-a-lago but he won’t.

    They don’t actually believe in anything. They’re spineless dorks who want to pretend they’re saving democracy or whatever. It’s all theater to these people. In fact, they probably want Trump to win so their districts will throw more money at Democratic fundraisers. What a bunch of goofy nerd libs.

      • axont [she/her, comrade/them]@hexbear.net
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        1 year ago

        Invertebrate slime? I could call them a bunch of stuff. I mean to say the Democrats are cowards who have no beliefs except cynicism. I don’t mean to catch anyone in the crossfire. If you’re into coding or Gundam or something that’s cool, don’t worry, I don’t mean you. I own an entire shelf of manga and I repair cassette tape players so I’m a dork too.

    • zarkanian@sh.itjust.works
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      Let me get this straight… The reason you dislike the Democrats is because they won’t assassinate their opponents? Can you imagine what this country would be like if politicians were ordering hits on each other?

      • OurToothbrush@lemmy.ml
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        1 year ago

        Yes, I dont like it how they refuse to enact any violence on fascist politicians.

        Ron DeSantis is out here killing trans people, I’d vote for democrats in a heartbeat if they strung him up like Mussolini

  • barrbaric [he/him]@hexbear.net
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    1 year ago

    “We’re taking this seriously”

    Then why have they not arrested (and hopefully executed) Trump and most of his toadies yet? Seems like they’re not that serious.

      • Tankiedesantski [he/him]@hexbear.net
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        1 year ago

        America has executed tens or hundreds of thousands of black and brown people all over the world, without trial, for much lesser acts of alleged terrorism than publicly threatening to kidnap US legislators.

      • barrbaric [he/him]@hexbear.net
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        1 year ago

        Doesn’t treason carry the death penalty? If they seriously think he’s going to become a dictator and end democracy, he should be killed. The US government has had 0 problem doing it to leaders of other countries who did far less; why should Trump get special treatment? Just because he’s a rich white guy? Hell, they’ve even set precedent under Obama that it’s legal to drone strike US citizens on foreign soil for being terrorists. Get him next time he leaves the country.

        • delirious_owl@discuss.online
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          Can we instead join the ranks of most countries and not do capital punishment?

          Just disqualify him from becoming a public servant, and lock the man in a nice prison with access to educational programs and other social services. He needs a good history teacher and therapist.

          Also, yes, stop all funding to the military and send the generals and their henchmen to the ICC to see if they should receive the same treatment.

          • barrbaric [he/him]@hexbear.net
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            Look, it’d be great to abolish the death penalty, the army, and the current version of the government in favor of something more equitable and humane. But that’s not the world we live in. Last year cops killed over 1000 people. In the america of today, under the laws that exist today, why should Trump not be killed?

            • delirious_owl@discuss.online
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              I dont hear an argument for why we can’t lock them all up in a nice facility with access to educational programs and other social services to help them be rehabilitated.

              Trump and most police need a lot of therapy and a proper education about US and world history.

              Empty all of the prisons of folks charged with victimless “crimes” and you have plenty of space for white collar criminals and 99% of the police officers

              • duderium [he/him]@hexbear.net
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                1 year ago

                None of what you advocate can happen without revolution, and as a certain philosopher and activist said, “a revolution is not a dinner party.” It will be violent, and many people will die.

                You can either have that, or you can have the Democrats/Republicans pretending to be the party of civility while they commit genocide. No ruling class in history has ever given up power peacefully.

      • DefinitelyNotAPhone [he/him]@hexbear.net
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        1 year ago

        Either Trump is an existential threat that requires the strongest possible response, or he’s just another corrupt asshole in a country dominated by others like him.

        And before you go “but America doesn’t do that sort of thing!”, I’d encourage you to look up Fred Hampton.

        • delirious_owl@discuss.online
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          I’m familiar with COINTELPRO and more recent black sites used by CPD.

          My point is that we shouldn’t sink to their level. We can neutralize the threat of a wanna-be dictator man child without murder. The man is sick and he deserves to be treated for his illness.

            • delirious_owl@discuss.online
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              The sentence in prison should be as long as is needed to rehabilitate them.

              Prison isn’t a place to “convert” or “torture” or “punish” someone. Its s place for them to get care and education until they are safe to return to society without being a risk to themselves or others.

              • queermunist she/her@lemmy.ml
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                1 year ago

                There is no point in claiming that the purpose of a system is to do what it constantly fails to do.

                The purpose of a system is what it does.

                • delirious_owl@discuss.online
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                  There are countries where prisons are used to torture and there are countries where prisons are used as rehabilitation centers. Both exist.

                  My point is that we should build the later, not the former.

  • CableMonster@lemmy.ml
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    1 year ago

    Kind of rich how you guys are against arresting your political opponents after what is currently happening to trump and the jan 6th prosecutions. You guys dont give a shit about justice, you just want to win, and its going to screw all of us.

    • Asafum@feddit.nl
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      The people who were arrested were arrested for breaking laws not simply “being Republicans.” Don’t let some dumb shit media propagandist make you think you’re being persecuted for being Republican, it’s absurd.

            • CableMonster@lemmy.ml
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              They are obviously different but they are an illustrations of two different ideologies and how one was much more severely prosecuted. But I agree, lets do apples to apples, how many people were arrested and convicted on the May 29th attack on the capital by the leftists?

              • sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works
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                1 year ago

                Moving the goalposts much?

                That event was way different that Jan 6. On Jan 6, we had armed people in the Capitol building threatening to hang the VP. On May 29, we had some people cross a barricade. They’re not comparable at all.

                • CableMonster@lemmy.ml
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                  1 year ago

                  So you are going with the “BUT INSURRECTION!!!” argument. It was not a insurrection, and you have yet to compare the quantities of people arrested and convicted with the different events.

      • CableMonster@lemmy.ml
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        From what I see, the people in control are not good or acting like the grown ups we want. But the targeted prosecutions are going to make everything much worse.