Good morning! If you are as old as dirt, like me, you probably remember a cartoon called The Jetsons, and a dog on there named Astro. A few years later, there was another cartoon called Scooby-Doo, named for the dog on that series.
Both dogs spoke in broken English, with lots of Rs inserted. Thus, one of the famous phrases first said by Astro, and later by Scooby, was their version of “uh-oh”:
Ruh-roh!
That was literally the first phrase that came to my mind when I read this story last night on WaPo:
Jan. 6 texts missing for Trump Homeland Security’s Wolf and Cuccinelli
Text messages for former President Donald Trump’s acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf and acting deputy secretary Ken Cuccinelli are missing for a key period leading up to the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, according to four people briefed on the matter and internal emails.
This discovery of missing records for the senior-most homeland security officials, which has not been previously reported, increases the volume of potential evidence that has vanished regarding the time around the Capitol attack.
Well, well – the plot thickens. Or spreads, as it were.
I wrote a few days ago about the likelihood that the loss of Secret Service texts was an accident, and whether it was permanent. (My answers: No and No.) This new development adds an interesting possibility to the story:
What if the Secret Service was actually in on the plot?
We’ve all assumed that Pence’s SS detail was doing all it could to protect him. What if, instead, the plan was for the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers to attack the Capitol, thus “forcing” the Secret Service to move Pence to some location in the building, then finally to the basement garage, and from there to take him away from the building and keep him somewhere for “safe keeping”?
Two things to remember as you consider that scenario:
- Pence refused to get in the car to leave. Did he suspect, or even know, that the plan was to get him out of the picture?
- The day before, Chuck Grassley said that if Pence wasn't there on Tuesday to lead the vote-counting, he (Grassley) would be in charge. Why would Grassley even mention that possibility, unless he suspected (or knew) that Pence would not be there for some reason?
The January 6th committee has done a good job of making clear that Trump was behind the plot, and that the usual suspects were involved. But what if the plot was actually much bigger, and involved more people, than we even suspect right now?
Speaking of suspecting – I suspect that the committee is learning that the conspiracy is larger than they thought, and it is going to take much more time to unravel. And, I also suspect that there are many more people in DC and across the country who are waking up in the middle of the night, wondering when an FBI agent is going to show up at their door.
Ruh-roh.
Miscellanea
- Learned yesterday that the Legislative Ethics Commission's web site (klec.ky.gov) was ranked 17th out of the 50 states by OpenSecrets.org. And I would agree: the KLEC website is one of the better ones I've used. Note, though, that OpenSecrets didn't say our state government's actual ETHICS were 17th in the nation – just the web site. 😉
- We're sitting at 699 subscribers as I write this. It's just a number, after all – but hitting 700 will be a nice milestone.
- Fancy Farm is next weekend. In the past, I've attended, along with Berry Craig and others, to meet-and-greet, take pictures, hear the speeches, and see and be seen. We've always done multiple stories about the event. But this year? Not going. It's gone from a relatively good-natured contest to see which politico can come up with the best and/or funniest barb at another, to an afternoon of hateful attacks accompanied by bused-in screaming partisans. It's no longer enjoyable, and I'm done with it unless and until it changes. (Which ain't gonna happen.) Berry has written a piece explaining why he's not going; it will be up by tonight.
All for today. Thanks, as always, for reading – and for supporting the work.
Bruce
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15 Jun 2022
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The Daily Take is a newsletter containing observations and thoughts of publisher Bruce Maples, and is only available to Partners of Forward Kentucky. It is available via email, and is also available on the web site to logged-in Partners. The email version is sent to Partner members who have opted-in to receiving it via the Newsletters section of their profile.
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