Legal Twitter Reacts To The Rule Of Law Collapsing
Story is updating as more information becomes available.
In case you’re too busy with work to pay attention to what’s going on in Washington, D.C., I hate to be the one to tell you, but there’s a violent coup attempt underway. And I’m not exaggerating. The political theater Senator Josh Hawley started by objecting to the certification of the electoral college results have reached its logical conclusion.
Armed MAGA protestors have stormed the Capitol Building. Vice President Pence has been escorted to a secure location, the building has been evacuated, and curfew is in place.w
And Senator Hawley and Senator Ted Cruz — remember both members of the bar and graduates of illustrious law schools — are, rightly, being blamed for inciting the violence.
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You caused the events today!
— AJarAbroad (@AJarAbroad) January 6, 2021
“This is what you’ve gotten,” Mitt Romney reportedly yelled at his colleagues including Ted Cruz. https://t.co/HHqSwSi8EM
— Bill Kuchman (@billkuchman) January 6, 2021
These ivy league pinheads like Cruz and Hawley helped enable this.
— Rick Hasen (@rickhasen) January 6, 2021
Senators @TedCruz and @HawleyMO should immediately resign.
— Joaquin Castro (@JoaquinCastrotx) January 6, 2021
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"No one other than President Donald Trump himself is more responsible for Wednesday’s coup attempt at the U.S. Capitol than one Joshua David Hawley" https://t.co/fYqYyjTrPR
— Scott Lemieux (@LemieuxLGM) January 6, 2021
Here’s the reaction you need to know right now (this article will be updated throughout the day, please refresh often for the latest).
This x100. Show some leadership, #SCOTUS, during this moment of national peril. https://t.co/FwBNCoOMQC
— Fix the Court (@FixTheCourt) January 7, 2021
I have two days left on this job. I can go with very little sleep in that remaining time. If these people, or anyone else who committed federal crimes at the Capitol today, are from Northern Ohio, you are going to be held accountable before I leave office. Coffee is brewing… https://t.co/N0K73tC7Wr
— U.S. Attorney Herdman (@USAttyHerdman) January 6, 2021
I join with my colleagues who have pledged the same in their districts: if we can prove you travelled from EDKY to DC to commit violent criminal acts, then you will be prosecuted by the @USAO_EDKY. We are sworn to protect the Constitution and uphold the law.
— U.S. Attorney Robert Duncan Jr. (@USAttyDuncan) January 6, 2021
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Contrary to what @RandPaul said on Fox (and is being widely reported), word in the Senate is that, notwithstanding everything that happened today, @HawleyMO is *still* planning to join an objection to Biden’s Pennsylvania electors — giving yet more fodder to the insurrectionists.
— Steve Vladeck (@steve_vladeck) January 7, 2021
At a fedsoc meeting somewhere: "As a matter of policy I disagree with armed right-wing terrorist assaults on legislatures, but as a legal matter…." https://t.co/Jp0ouzqDAS
— Anil Kalhan (@kalhan) January 6, 2021
Anyone actually smart knows how wildly irresponsible it is to whip up forces you can’t control.
Josh Hawley is just bright enough to start an insurrection, but he’s not smart enough to end one, and I hope that’s how his Wikipedia article ends for the rest of time.
— Courtney Milan ???? (@courtneymilan) January 7, 2021
Two GOP Senate sources tell me Josh Hawley has not yet agreed to drop his objection to the Pennsylvania vote, despite significant lobbying from other members of the conference.
— Declan Garvey (@declanpgarvey) January 7, 2021
On with @neal_katyal now and he says he believes articles of impeachment should be drawn up and implemented first thing tomorrow morning.
— Katie Couric (@katiecouric) January 6, 2021
Rand Paul, per hill pool, says he does not think there will be any more objections to Joe Biden’s electoral college victory
— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) January 7, 2021
Again, everyone who supported the President's attempted coup, which today led to the storming of the US Capitol, should be written out of public life forever. @HawleyMO @tedcruz all of them. https://t.co/vFkrKZMh8e via @TPM
— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) January 6, 2021
Wow. Republican Sen. Richard Burr: "The President bears responsibility for today’s events by promoting the unfounded conspiracy theories that have led to this point." pic.twitter.com/swKOYFd9CI
— Dustin Volz (@dnvolz) January 6, 2021
i cant really wrap my head around the fact people who violently breached the building, and trashed it were allowed to just…leave the capitol.
— Kate Nocera (@KateNocera) January 6, 2021
if he isn't removed, the 25th Amendment is utterly toothless https://t.co/z2bujdgkYt
— ⚖️Imani Gandy ⚖️ (@AngryBlackLady) January 6, 2021
If you don't impeach and remove a President for staging a coup, what's the point of impeachment.
— Ben Rhodes (@brhodes) January 6, 2021
You won't get all of Representatives to give up on their objections. Question is if McConnell can get Senators to stop objecting, which shuts it down totally. https://t.co/8Mib9eZsek
— Rick Hasen (@rickhasen) January 6, 2021
Main value of impeachment and removal is to prevent future holding of office. But look at insurrection statue: penalty for assisting etc any rebellion or insurrection v. the authority of the US etc gets up to 10 years AND shall be incapable of holding any office under the US
— Harry Litman (@harrylitman) January 6, 2021
A wake up call.
Today. Just today. https://t.co/kf49t2uJvK
— Courtney Milan ???? (@courtneymilan) January 6, 2021
Why is this man not in jail https://t.co/R6E4gsYMu3
— Jessica Huseman (@JessicaHuseman) January 6, 2021
In the face of Trump’s response to this ongoing insurrection, I am convinced @VP can make a strong case that “the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office.” He should gather the necessary support from the Cabinet to remove the President immediately.
— Chris Geidner (@chrisgeidner) January 6, 2021
“What’s the downside for humoring him,” senior Republicans quipped last month.
This. This is the downside. And plenty of people saw it coming.https://t.co/dIYcfGXheD
— Steve Vladeck (@steve_vladeck) January 6, 2021
Ben Sasse: "Today, the United States Capitol — the world’s greatest symbol of self-government — was ransacked while the leader of the free world cowered behind his keyboard — tweeting against his Vice President for fulfilling the duties of his oath to the Constitution."
— Ed Whelan (@EdWhelanEPPC) January 6, 2021
The Capitol Police know how to prevent this. And they know how to stop it. And they chose not to prevent it. And they chose not to defend the Capitol when they had to. https://t.co/AB1HOMa1Oo
— Garrett M. Graff (@vermontgmg) January 6, 2021
He voted for Biden but still remarkable a Republican Governor is calling for resignation, 25th amendment, or impeachment https://t.co/dokFVmSWMI
— Alex Thompson (@AlexThomp) January 6, 2021
Trump daughters seem not to understand what’s going on pic.twitter.com/FFZfXywIkU
— Molly Jong-Fast???? (@MollyJongFast) January 6, 2021
Former chief of staff for Trump Department of Education pic.twitter.com/CgkEAG4Gti
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) January 6, 2021
“The effort is working. Trump’s supporters are acutely aware, the person said, that it would be untenable to continue their objections once the session is resumed, even if they have yet to admit it and formally withdraw their complaints.” https://t.co/6ac2HzJKmH
— George Conway (@gtconway3d) January 6, 2021
????????????
Amazing statement by the Secretary of Defense.
Note whom Secretary Miller and Chairman Milley did NOT speak to: President Trump.
We have had something close to the de facto invoking of the 25th amendment. pic.twitter.com/KtrhD7WQUY
— Bill Kristol (@BillKristol) January 6, 2021
I have consulted an expert and I believe the headline is a little misleading. Pence can’t order this but SecDef can without higher authorization and he probably did so after consulting with Pence but not on Pence’s order.
— Joe Patrice (@JosephPatrice) January 6, 2021
Huh. @RepSusanWild on @CBSNews saying that a bunch of new Republican members of Congress are refusing to wear masks in the room that all of the House Members have been forced to shelter in, which she says is "cramped" and "a superspreader event."
— Mike Masnick (@mmasnick) January 6, 2021
Congresswoman:
The Senate should not just remove Trump, but disqualify him from "hold[ing] and enjoy[ing] any office of honor, trust or profit under the United States," per Article I, § 3.
— Steve Vladeck (@steve_vladeck) January 6, 2021
Inbox: "The NAACP is calling for the immediate Impeachment of President Donald Trump for his attempted coup on the United States of America."
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) January 6, 2021
Earlier today, Ginni Thomas posted a Reagan quote on Facebook that ends, "We did all that could be done."
Does "all" include insurrection? Breaching the Capitol? Attacking the police? Attacking the press? pic.twitter.com/ZSJsU18Ggz
— Fix the Court (@FixTheCourt) January 6, 2021
Would be worth impeaching him again just to put GOP Senators on the record that they still support keeping him in office after this.
— Elizabeth Spiers (@espiers) January 6, 2021
This. They riled up people for decades and then stood back with their hands in the air and claimed they had no idea something would get torched or someone shot…. This is how they ALWAYS work. https://t.co/oG1p47KzGN
— Robin Marty (@robinmarty) January 6, 2021
You’re accusing someone of spreading hatred hours after you made a knowingly false constitutional argument to try and keep an incompetent sociopath in power? You embarrass lawyers, the law, the Senate, your country and yes even your wife. You should resign. https://t.co/UQ4gH3qitv
— Eric Segall (@espinsegall) January 6, 2021
It’s truly the least that should be done right now. https://t.co/1Rqh2Wa26o
— Chris Geidner (@chrisgeidner) January 6, 2021
They literally cleared Lafayette Square within 10 min for Trump’s fake Bible photo op. Grounds of Capitol have been occupied for…4 hours? https://t.co/ehCbqf6KqI
— Asha Rangappa (@AshaRangappa_) January 6, 2021
The horror that my @FedSoc friends are feeling today should help them to finally begin to understand the rage so many us have felt at each of them for the past 4 years.
We knew they were risking this, precisely this, all for your goddamn judgeships.
— Matthew Stiegler (@MatthewStiegler) January 6, 2021
um the guy in the photo on the right is one of America’s most famous nazis https://t.co/G81R1Lsgsj
— Matt Pearce ???? (@mattdpearce) January 6, 2021
Impeach. Convict. Remove and disqualify. https://t.co/g7ZVsV1ciz
— Gregg Nunziata (@greggnunziata) January 6, 2021
the Dutch PM asks trump to do the right thing.
how america looks to the world. https://t.co/ELVggBRtPi
— David Kaye (@davidakaye) January 6, 2021
We can no longer say peaceful transfer of power when referring to this OUTGOING admin.
— @tiffanydcross (@TiffanyDCross) January 6, 2021
As a young congressional intern I had the privilege to stand on these Capitol steps and attend the 1980 presidential inauguration. With America and the world, I'm watching today's insurrection in anger and sadness. pic.twitter.com/i4CXRSVYY7
— Tim Eigo (@azatty) January 6, 2021
I remember police yelling at my face and arresting everyone around me for standing peacefully like this during the Kavanaugh fight.
Now they are opening the gates for terrorists. Unreal. pic.twitter.com/0Rq4PlA7eL
— Anisha Singh (@Anisha_S113) January 6, 2021
Just a reminder, Trump walked through recently deployed tear gas to give a speech with a bible he's never opened. But people are occupying the Capitol, he loves them.
Yeah, I'm a little hot right now.
— Raffi Melkonian (@RMFifthCircuit) January 6, 2021
I was told the videos I worked on for @ProjectLincoln this election season were too hyperbolic. It has become clear to me that we were too kind.
— Ben Howe (@BenHowe) January 6, 2021
Remember that time Amy Barrett wouldn't answer Cory Booker's question about whether presidents should commit to a peaceful transfer of power?https://t.co/FZmMaiOx2E
— Nancy Leong (@nancyleong) January 6, 2021
Make America 1812 Again.
— Neal Katyal (@neal_katyal) January 6, 2021
It is not just it will be a long time before we can credibly advocate for the rule of law. It will also be a long time for us to persuade allies to rely on us or lecture others they are not stable enough to have nuclear weapons. This is a domestic crisis w enormous forpol impact.
— Richard N. Haass (@RichardHaass) January 6, 2021
This is a major industry lobbying group calling for the 25th Amendment. Consider how bad things have to be for this group to go out of its way to make this announcement. https://t.co/SrwkKLHjoJ
— Joe Patrice (@JosephPatrice) January 6, 2021
He told them to go to the Capitol and do this. He told them. In his speech.
— Courtney Milan ???? (@courtneymilan) January 6, 2021
How and why is someone close to the WH familiar enough with the rioters to be “in touch with them”? That tells me this is a coordinated effort. That’s called conspiracy. https://t.co/FjGkRStleX
— Asha Rangappa (@AshaRangappa_) January 6, 2021
precisely. people keep talking this "shining light on a hill" nonsense and that's a fantasy.
it's a coup. our democracy is fucked. https://t.co/vKIOnF9qrl
— ⚖️Imani Gandy ⚖️ (@AngryBlackLady) January 6, 2021
I believe the Republican members of Congress who have incited this domestic terror attack through their attempts to overturn the election must face consequences. They have broken their sacred Oath of Office.
I will be introducing a resolution calling for their expulsion. pic.twitter.com/JMTlQ4IfnR
— Congresswoman Cori Bush (@RepCori) January 6, 2021
yep, invoke the 14th and remove every single member who signed on to the electoral vote challenge from office https://t.co/S7hn196H4J
— b-boy bouiebaisse (@jbouie) January 6, 2021
We were always told that @IvankaTrump was going to be the “voice of reason” for her father. Instead, she’s just as complicit.
You can delete the tweet, but you calling rioters “American Patriots” will live on! pic.twitter.com/0G8SGvH4fE
— AprilDRyan (@AprilDRyan) January 6, 2021
Anybody who is:
???? surprised by today
????wringing their hands or crying
????saying "what I meant was…"
????saying something like "this isn't America" or "We're better than this!"Can't be trusted. Because we warned/begged/educated/pleaded for you to see. Yet here we are. pic.twitter.com/v52Sl1Q7VQ
— April (@ReignOfApril) January 6, 2021
What is happening in the US Capitol terrifies me to my core. But it would also be nice to hear more about similar insurrections in statehouses across the country.
— Corey Rayburn Yung (@CoreyRYung) January 6, 2021
“Fine people on both sides”
— Josh Block (@JoshABlock) January 6, 2021
Has anyone been arrested?
— Preet Bharara (@PreetBharara) January 6, 2021
A reporter is having a panic attack because we’re locked in the Capitol without any police protection, and we hear and feel rumblings underneath us. This is scary folks, especially after being labeled “the enemy” for some 4 years
— Matt Laslo (@MattLaslo) January 6, 2021
Read @ABAPresident Refo’s statement about the storming of the #USCapitol here: https://t.co/EndKsgwDL9
— ABA for Law Students (@abalsd) January 6, 2021
Per people close to the White House, several official and unofficial aides are trying – without success – to get the president to issue a stronger statement. He simply won't do it. He's been furious at Pence for refusing to do something he doesn't have power to do and that's that
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) January 6, 2021
All this security around the capitol was beefed up after 9/11 to protect the government from terrorism, but then the mob showed up and they were white so they backed off.
— Adam Serwer ???? (@AdamSerwer) January 6, 2021
Andrew McCarthy is on Fox News, saying that when he was a federal prosecutor, he prosecuted terrorists for the same thing the protesters are doing at the Capitol Building. "The President incited this."
— Orin Kerr (@OrinKerr) January 6, 2021
For the conservatives who gritted their teeth and supported Trump for judicial nominations that would “preserve the rule of law”:
Was it still worth it?
— Dan Epps (@danepps) January 6, 2021
God this detail from the Hill pool report breaks my heart — even as they were rushed from the Senate chamber by police, Senate parliamentary staff made sure to grab the boxes holding the electoral college certificates
— Kate Riga (@Kate_Riga24) January 6, 2021
Under the Emergency Management Assistance Compact (EMAC), @MayorBowser can request National Guard assistance from other states — including Maryland and Virginia — even though she doesn’t control the D.C. Guard.
Look for that soon, if it hasn’t happened already.
— Steve Vladeck (@steve_vladeck) January 6, 2021
So long, Republican Party. I’m out. Country before political party. ???????? pic.twitter.com/YPm7eq77Uv
— Peter J. Gregory (@PeterJGregory) January 6, 2021
The Virginia National Guard is responding, but the DC one is not, because it would have to be under the president's command.
Trump cannot be allowed to lead this country for the next two weeks.
— Jordan Weissmann (@JHWeissmann) January 6, 2021
still remembering the people 4 years ago who said it wasn't going to be that bad stop overreacting
— Jason P. Steed (@5thCircAppeals) January 4, 2021
Sadly, I’m afraid this isn’t the end
— Joe Patrice (@JosephPatrice) January 6, 2021
dc summer dc on 1/6/21
2020 vs. vs. violent
peaceful blm maga rioters
protesters inside capitol pic.twitter.com/rPglAUc80y— mike taddow (@MikeTaddow) January 6, 2021
This will be in a campaign ad one day, but not in the way he imagined it. https://t.co/FHAz0iTKwU
— Glenn Kessler (@GlennKesslerWP) January 6, 2021
Photo is of the National Guard on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial (see https://t.co/UTFw4VwRCG), but @Vanessid's point still stands: based on the security used for #BlackLivesMatter protests, more can and should have been done to protect the Capitol today. https://t.co/4fTK2YpsAa
— David Lat (@DavidLat) January 6, 2021
I share this concern. At this point I'm hoping we end the day without loss of life. https://t.co/dM03X1Bcwd
— Greg Shill (@greg_shill) January 6, 2021
D.C. statehood on January 21. https://t.co/KBOFJnH1Mm
— Matt Ford (@fordm) January 6, 2021
BREAKING: Protesters have moved inside the Kansas statehouse.
— Kelly Saberi (@KellyKSNT) January 6, 2021
#whitenationalism https://t.co/FKRDfQ2A3H
— Southern Poverty Law Center (@splcenter) January 6, 2021
Old enough to remember when folks refused to draw a connection between Trump’s rhetoric and its violent results.
— Maya Harris (@mayaharris_) January 6, 2021
This is horrifying. This is not patriotism.
— Staci Zaretsky (@stacizaretsky) January 6, 2021
Anyone out there have any doubt now that @realDonaldTrump is a psychopath?
— George Conway (@gtconway3d) January 6, 2021
I remember watching TV in 1991 as the Soviet Union experienced a coup and thinking — even though it was put down fast — it was absolutely insane that something like that could even HAPPEN in a global superpower. I’ve managed to live long enough to be unsurprised.
— Joe Patrice (@JosephPatrice) January 6, 2021
Maybe you shouldn't enable these people by lying to them about the results of the election?
Oh, wait, I'm sorry. Taking PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY is not you or your party's thing.
— Elie Mystal (@ElieNYC) January 6, 2021
Correction: "terrorist" or "insurgent" or something else along those lines, but not "protester." https://t.co/380Jgwku39
— David Lat (@DavidLat) January 6, 2021
White People: OMG, this violence. What have we become??
Black People Familiar With How White Supremacists React When They Don't Get Their Way: pic.twitter.com/W20fSlMOB6
— Elie Mystal (@ElieNYC) January 6, 2021
"there is an armed standoff at the House front door" pic.twitter.com/lRnPdIgW0o
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 6, 2021
https://t.co/hOi3g5jEbb pic.twitter.com/axM6rIrRLc
— Colin Kalmbacher (@colinkalmbacher) January 6, 2021
they're rioting. you can say it.
THEY ARE RIOTING.
"clashed with police" my shiny black behind https://t.co/Xvu0R37oPH
— ⚖️Imani Gandy ⚖️ (@AngryBlackLady) January 6, 2021
In the eternal words of the Washington Post newsroom’s anonymous source: “What’s the harm of giving him this time?” https://t.co/JwE1qqNFaj
— southpaw (@nycsouthpaw) January 6, 2021
Where's the "no quarter"? https://t.co/uSsFaVQ1eS
— Jordan Weissmann (@JHWeissmann) January 6, 2021
GOP Rep Michael Waltz live on Fox News right now, commenting on the protesters breaking into the Capitol Building: "This is despicable. . . . This is a sad day for the country."
— Orin Kerr (@OrinKerr) January 6, 2021
True Story:
I was two years behind Josh Hawley in that fancy post-college teaching fellowship at an elite 500-year-old London high school.
The first thing one teacher asked me when I showed up?
"You're not a fascist like that Joshua Hawley, are you?"
This was 2004.
— Mike Sacks (@MikeSacksEsq) January 6, 2021
Are the people who argued that impeaching Trump would be a waste of time willing to reconsider their position now?
— Asha Rangappa (@AshaRangappa_) January 6, 2021
The D.C. National Guard is not controlled by the Mayor; it’s controlled by the President.
The lack of a military response right now is a failure by the *federal* government to respond to an assault on one of its most important institutions engaging in its most important duty.
— Steve Vladeck (@steve_vladeck) January 6, 2021
I woke up elated and now I’m sick to my stomach
— Preet Bharara (@PreetBharara) January 6, 2021
OK fine
how it started how it's going pic.twitter.com/l6jAf1ZwQp
— Mark Joseph Stern (@mjs_DC) January 6, 2021
