The House Select Committee investigating the assault on America and the attempt to overthrow the Constitution provides moments of truth for the people called to testify. It offers these individuals an opportunity to rise to the occasion, to be a profile in courage and to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. At this point, we know that many people would rather be imprisoned than tell the truth. Still, hope springs eternal.

POND SCUM SLIME

Some of the people asked to testify have been lifelong pond scum slime. They were reprehensible degenerate human beings prior to their association with the Hitman and they will remain reprehensible degenerate human beings until the day they die. They will not appear before the Committee or they will take the Fifth or they will not tell the truth.

At some level, one would think that they know they will be named in the interim and final report of the Committee.

At some level, one would think that they know even the currently Missing in Action Attorney General will indict them and try them in the federal court in the District of Columbia.

At some level, one would think that they know they could be imprisoned for years to come if not their entire lives.

Or maybe not. Maybe they genuinely are not capable of thinking ahead. Or perhaps they think the Attorney General will remain MIA. Or perhaps they presume they can stretch things out until the Hitman is restored to the White House at which point he immediately will pardon them and all other victims of the witch hunt against him. But maybe if there comes a time when they realize that scenario will not play out, then they will have a “Come to Jesus” moment and be willing to enter into a plea bargain…in exchange for what? Convicting the Hitman?

FIRST TIME CRIMINALS

Another batch of the people called by the House Select Committee are what I call “First Time Criminals.” These are people who have not engaged in the pond scum slime activities of the first group. Regardless of their political views, they have led legal lives. For these people, their association with the Hitman in planning for January 6 and overthrowing the Constitution was their first foray into the dark side of seditious criminal activity. I do not know if they even believe the election was stolen or if they simply subscribe to the adage that “winning isn’t the only thing, it’s everything.”

For these formerly legal people, they should know the same sequence that the Pond Scum Slime group knows. In addition (and for both groups) there is the legal cost for falling on one’s sword rather than telling the truth. The more “real” the prospect of indictment, jail, and prison becomes, the more likely one of these non-career criminals is likely to turn “Michael Cohen.” Instead of taking a bullet for someone who is willing to throw them under the bus, any one of these “First-Timers” might be willing to make a deal. There is no prospect of that now. Far from based on the events today. Perhaps after the interim report, if the MIA Attorney General decides to act, and the reality of their future sinks in….

MIKE PENCE   

For Mike Pence, it is now or never. I have written several blogs about his failure to be a profile in courage. I also recognize that he is growing aware that he is living a pipe dream. He will not be the candidate in 2024. He has no future as a Trumpican. He will never be removed from the Trump List for failing to serve his Lord and Savior, the Chosen One, Blessed Be his Name, Say Hallelujah. He may have reached the point where he remembers at last who his true Lord and Savior is!

He has seen a former aide abandon him and tell the truth even before the election.

He has seen aides who remained with him to the very end now tell the truth.

He knows it is his turn now. It will be his last opportunity to come clean and regain his soul.

On the other hand, he may remain delusional about his prospects for a political future. As always, it seems reasonable against Pence telling the truth, but it does remain a possibility.

If he does decide to tell the truth, it will and will not be important. It will be important for developing the legal case against the Hitman. It will be meaningless for Trumpicans since he has no standing with them. They will denounce him as a Judas, as a Benedict Arnold, and threaten his family. Still for non-Trumpican Republicans and for Independents, Pence’s decision to tell the truth could be significant and even for the 2022 elections.

SEAN HANNITY 

There is one person who could make a difference even for Trumpicans if he decided to tell the truth: Sean Hannity. Back on September 8, 2020, I wrote Will Sean Hannity Be Howard Baker?: Suppose He Wrote a Tell-All Book. We know the answer, of course, was that he did not. Now the situation is a little different. His position as an unofficial advisor to the President of the United States has been exposed. He knows the Hitman is “bat crazy” and listening to people who were steering him wrong. What will he do when his moment of truth comes?

Back in 2020 in that blog, I wrote that Hannity would not write a tell-all book. He would not jeopardize his ratings, his income, his life, and maybe even effect the upcoming election by exposing the bat-crazy moron for who he is. Then I wrote:

But what about after the election? Suppose come January 20, 2021, Hannity is faced with the trifecta of Democratic power: the House, the White House, and the Senate. Then what? Hannity has faced this situation before. He would stand ready to oppose the Democrats just as he did during the Obama years. The question he would ask himself is what is the best way to do so after the vaunted Red Wave sweeps the Trumpican Party from power? What is the best way to resist the Democrats going forward given the likely changes due to the 2020 census? What is the best way to resist the Democrats in upcoming elections in 2022, 2024, and beyond?…. [OBVIOUSLY I DID NOT ANTICIPATE THE POWER OF THE “STOP THE STEAL” MANTRA.]

Similarly Sean Hannity might face a moment of truth after the election as well. He may have no choice but to tell the truth about his meetings and conversations with the President of the United States. After all, he is not a lawyer so they are not privileged. There is no freedom of press issue since these conversations were as an advisor and not a reporter [AND HE IS NOT A REPORTER ANYWAY]. Subpoenas will be issued against him to compel testimony about his participation in the Ukrainian extortion, abuses of power, and whatever strikes the interest of the Congressional investigation committees [I DID NOT ANTICIPATE JANUARY 6]. If Hannity chooses to defy the subpoenas, Attorney General Adam Schiff [I WAS NOT ANTICIPATING A SLEEPING RIP VAN WINKLE INSTEAD] with great glee and satisfaction will add criminal charges to the list and throw him in jail.

My analysis at that time was based on the Loser leaving the stage thereby necessitating Hannity and Foxhub to chart a new course. Obviously I got that wrong. As for Hannity deciding to tell the truth, I concluded:

I am not saying that Hannity will pursue this course of action in the event of a 2020 Democratic trifecta and Red Wave drowning Trumpicans. I am saying that Hannity will have arrived at the proverbial fork in the road. One should not doubt the heady experience it was for him to have the President of the United States at his beck and call. On a strictly psychological level, these four years had to have been a rush, a constant high. Now it will be over. He will feel the disappointment. He will feel the Trumpican pain. He may even decide to wallow in it on a show that nobody in power cares about. Or he may chose not to retire from relevance but to fight on in the real world by becoming Howard Baker and announcing to the world that it is time for THE DONALD to go. Depending on the election results, we will know soon enough what choice Hannity makes.

I was wrong about The Donald leaving the stage; he still dominates the Trumpican Party and Foxhub. But I was right about Hannity facing a moment of truth. I doubt he will rise to the occasion and save the country. He would rather contribute to its divorce instead.