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On the eve of the January 6 riot on Capitol Hill, then Vice President Mike Pence was under enormous pressure to overturn the election results. A new book describing the volatile presidential transition reports that President Donald Trump has asked Pence, “But wouldn’t it be cool to have that power?” “
In the days leading up to the attack, Pence was consulting his lawyers, associates and even former Vice President Dan Quayle about his options.
“Peril” is the final book in Bob Woodward’s acclaimed trilogy on Trump’s presidency. Co-authored by Robert Costa of the Washington Post, the book chronicles the tenuous period of transition from the chaos of the attack on Capitol Hill to an obscure conservative advocate’s six-point strategy to overthrow the election.
The book also details the extraordinary actions of Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark Milley, who should have assured China that Trump and the United States did not intend to attack him. And it reveals how some leaders – from cabinet members and members of Trump’s inner circle to other Republicans and elected officials – disbelieved Trump’s allegations of electoral fraud, and yet publicly aligned with the president.
The book includes over 200 interviews on “deep backgrounds” – meaning the information could be used, but Woodward and Costa couldn’t attribute it.
“[Some Republicans] I think President Trump is essential in keeping the GOP in power, in gaining power in the future, so they don’t want to go to war on him, even if they don’t like him, ”said Costa at “Chicago Tonight”.
Woodward and Costa report that Republican Senators Lindsey Graham and Mike Lee have conducted their own voter fraud investigations, but found no evidence from what Trump and his attorney, Rudy Giuliani have said.
“This demand for a stolen election persists, it has become a rallying cry within the Republican Party and it could even be a central demand if it comes up again in 2024. So you don’t have many Republicans who want to challenge it, ”Costa said.
“Peril” also explores the future of the GOP and the disagreement within the party in which direction it should go. Senatorial Minority Leader Mitch McConnell wanted the party to move away from Trump after the Jan.6 attack, as Graham believes the GOP must remain loyal to Trump as a leader.
“You see Trump organizing rally after rally, using a warlike cadence: ‘Never surrender, never give in.’ He has immense political capital, the polls confirm this. So even in the Republican Party, and someone like Mitch McConnell, the leader of the GOP in the Senate wants to move forward, well, it’s not easy to move forward because he’s out there and he galvanizes his supporters in the United States to get involved, to run for positions on the local electoral council, the state electoral council, ”Costa said. “He wants to have even more of his say in the conduct of the elections in this country.
“It’s not an end story. “Peril” may end with a book, but the peril for American democracy, the threat to the fabric that holds it together is very present. “
Contact Marissa Nelson: @ByMarissaNelson | (773) 509-5368 | [email protected]
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