I don’t usually write this kind of diary, but just as Chris Hayes was starting this story, I had to shut him off to deal with a household matter. So, inquiring minds want to know: Did Marjorie Taylor Greene really say that the price of keeping the government running was stopping the Trump trials?
Certainly Trump has called for that: Trump urges government shutdown in unlikely bid to 'defund' his criminal prosecutions
Former President Donald Trump has urged fellow Republicans in Congress to shut down the government to thwart the federal prosecutions against him, although any funding lapse was unlikely to stop the cases from being pursued.
. . .
"Republicans in Congress can and must defund all aspects of Crooked Joe Biden’s weaponized Government," Trump wrote on his Truth Social media site late on Wednesday, calling it "the last chance to defund these political prosecutions against me and other Patriots."
It won’t work, by the way:
The U.S. Justice Department has previously said activities funded by "permanent indefinite appropriations" would continue during any funding lapse.
The Special Counsel's Office prosecuting Trump and his allies had no formal comment, but it is covered by "the permanent, indefinite appropriation for independent counsels," according to its latest funding statement.
(A government shutdown doesn’t stop all functions of government, by the way, even ones not clearly essential. When I was a consular officer at State during the October 2013 shutdown, consular work continued as usual, because we were funded by visa and other fees.)
Still, it would be nice to know if Greene openly admitted tonight that this was her price for her vote to keep the government running. And of course Trump owns enough other Republican Congressnuts™ to make this a credible threat.
But Squeaker Kev has no control over the special counsel, so there’s nothing he can do that will satisfy Greene and the rest of the MAGA horde. The House is not going to stop the DOJ (or the Fulton County DA, or the NY AG, which may happen) from putting Trump on trial.
The longer they play this game, though, the more the Repugs will alienate the more-than-half of the country that wants to move on from Trump. The less they play the game, on the other hand, the more they infuriate Trump and his base whose votes they need.
It would be nice to say I’m experiencing some schadenfreude here, but it’s the country that’s going to get hurt first.