File:This Week in Today (9 August 2021).jpg

[[This Week in Today. (9 August 2021).

Trump's acting attorney general revealed 'frightening' activity at Justice Department, Senate Judiciary chair says

New details of the drama at the Justice Department are fleshing out the record of Trump's final days in office after stunning revelations in a battery of new books about Trump's behavior during that tumultuous period. In the most extraordinary new twist, Washington Post reporters Carol Leonnig and Philip Rucker reported that the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley feared that Trump might try to use the armed forces to stage a coup.

The patchwork of new details prove that Trump's unhinged behavior after losing the election was not only more extreme than it appeared from the outside. The emerging timeline also suggests that Trump attempted one of the most sweeping crimes against the Constitution in US history. He tried to use presidential power to overturn the election in Georgia and elsewhere. He imposed huge pressure on career officials to go along with his corruption. And he called a mob to Washington, which, incited by his lies, staged an insurrection against Congress as it was in the act of certifying Joe Biden's election victory. If Trump was still in power, new details of such abuses of power would undoubtedly merit a third impeachment.

The shocking disclosures of the past few weeks come as Trump appears to be at least preparing the groundwork for a future presidential campaign. The former President has already grievously damaged faith in the electoral system by convincing millions of his supporters that he was cheated out of power in a free and fair election that he clearly lost.

• https://www.cnn.com/2021/08/08/politics/dick-durbin-jeffrey-rosen-trump-doj-testimony-cnntv/index.html

• https://www.cnn.com/2021/08/09/politics/donald-trump-justice-department-elections-republicans/index.html