Jonathan P. Baird

Many aspects of former President Trump’s January 6 coup attempt have become clearer because of the work of the January 6 Committee. We know there was nothing spontaneous about the coup effort. As with Trump’s other attacks on democracy like his fake elector scheme, this was a highly planned operation.

From right after the time that Trump tweeted on December 19 for his shock troops to come to Washington D.C. for something “wild” until January 6, a plan evolved. Much money, strategizing and organizing were behind the insurrection.

However, there are many unanswered questions that deserve further exploration. The January 6 Committee hasn’t explained everything and I have more questions.

How much coordination existed between Trump operatives and the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers? What went on at the Willard Hotel war room command center leading to January 6? Key members of Trump world like Rudy Giuliani, Roger Stone, Alex Jones, Steve Bannon and John Eastman were part of the war room planning. From Cassidy Hutchinson we know that Mark Meadows called in to the war room on the evening of January 5.

Was there a developed plan in place for the violent attack on the Capitol that included Trump and his operatives? Was the violence planned by the Trump team?

Were the Proud Boys put in place early by Trump operatives to initiate the violent attack? We know from Nick Quested, a documentary filmmaker, that hundreds of Proud Boys cased the Capitol around 10:30am on January 6, long before Trump’s speech. I guess I don’t believe in “accidents”. We know that leaders of the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers met in a Washington DC parking garage on January 5. Why did Enrique Tarrio, Proud Boys chairman, post on Parler on December 29:

“We will not be wearing our traditional Black and Yellow. We will be incognito and we will be spread across downtown DC in smaller teams.”

Why were so many of the insurrectionists armed with lethal weapons like pistols and assault weapons? Why did they have flex ties and bear spray? Why did they stash an arsenal of firearms and ammunition at the Comfort Inn in Ballston, Va, a 15 minute drive from the Capitol? Why did Trump urge the removal of magnetometers on January 6 when he knew his supporters were armed?

Why were the Oath Keepers decked out in full tactical gear, wearing hard-knuckled gloves, tactical vests, camo helmets, ballistic goggles and radios with earpieces? Why did they march in stack formation? Were they expecting some order from Trump to justify military action?

Who planted the pipe bombs that did not explode? How did the bombs fit into the plot?

Did any of the far right groups plan to execute leaders they considered enemies like Nancy Pelosi or Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez? Did they actually plan to hang Mike Pence? Would that have happened if Pence was captured? Were there murder cells? When Trump tweeted at 2:24pm that he was disappointed in Pence for lacking courage was that seen by Trump supporters as an implicit order to carry out Pence’s execution?

How close were we to martial law being declared by Trump? We know that Mike Flynn advocated that. Even as late as January 17, 2021, a few days before Biden’s inauguration, Rep Marjorie Taylor Greene was texting Mark Meadows, presidential chief of staff, that members of Congress wanted Trump to declare martial law so Trump could stay in power.

Was the Willard Hotel war room plan that Trump was going to march on the Capitol with his supporters and declare himself President/dictator? Why didn’t Trump end up marching to the Capitol as he said he was going to do?

What was the Secret Service actually up to on January 6? Were some Secret Service agents in cahoots with Trump’s coup? Why was Mike Pence unwilling to get in the vice presidential limo with the Secret Service and leave the capitol? Were agents going to fly him to Alaska or remove him so that Trump’s scheme could move ahead?

Did Trump really grab the steering wheel of his limo and forcefully argue to get the Secret Service to allow him to march on the Capitol? Did the Secret Service say “no” simply because they could not guarantee his safety in the crowd?

Why did the Secret Service delete text messages around January 5 and 6? As federal government employees they know the importance of maintaining and safeguarding records. It is legally required. How could they disappear evidence on days they knew in advance would be historically important even with a system migration?

The Secret Service received a letter on January 16, 2021 from the chairs of four congressional committees instructing preservation of all January 6-related documents. The erasure took place after the oversight officials’ request. The January 6 Committee received only one text message from the Secret Service after issuing a subpoena on July 15. Did the Secret Service calculate the risk of exposure was worse than intentionally covering up?

Homeland Security Chief Chad Wolf and acting deputy secretary Ken Cuccinelli also deleted text messages around January 6. Coincidences like this stop looking like coincidences. Looking back on Watergate, the Rosemary Woods tape gap was 18 minutes. Here there is a more widespread pattern of cover-up. Remember Trump also disappeared records for hours on January 6. This adds greatly to the impression of a systemic cover-up. Was cover-up part of the war room plan?

We know that for hours Trump gleefully watched TV coverage of the assault on the Capitol and he didn’t order police or military intervention. Was the reason he did not order such intervention part of.a plan to stop election certification? The more chaos created, the more impossible it became for Congress to conduct any business. Delay prevented the feared goal: certification.

Why did the police or military not anticipate what was going to happen on January 6 when there was so much advance notice of the insurrectionists’ intentions? There were so few defenders at the Capitol to face the mob. On the night of January 5 on his podcast Steve Bannon said “to strap in”. He said “all hell is going to break loose tomorrow”. He called it “game day”. Why was that not taken seriously as the attack on the Capitol was entirely foreseeable?

How much did the Trump team have to do with disabling military or police response before and on January 6? Did the Trump team keep the National Guard away from the insurrection deliberately? Again, was delay part of the Trump plan to allow more time for his coup scheme to unfold?

Did the Trump operatives coordinate their violent insurrection plan with Congressional allies including people like Reps. Boebert, Greene, Jordan, Gaetz, Gosar and Sens. Hawley and Cruz? In the two month period prior to January 6, how many Congressional tours were actually reconnaissance missions so that future insurrectionists knew where to find legislators they targeted? Why was Boebert tweeting “1776”?

If they did nothing wrong, why, according to Cassidy Hutchinson, did Reps Biggs, Gohmert, Perry, Greene and Gaetz seek pardons from Trump? Doesn’t that show consciousness of criminality and guilt?

Hopefully, the January 6 Committee will look at questions like these and seek answers. Even without knowing all the answers, it is clear that MAGA fascism came close to succeeding on January 6. If Pence had gotten in the limo, if demonstrators had killed congressman or senators or if Trump had declared martial law, who knows? All supporters of democracy of whatever party should be very alarmed. The threat remains.