Trump vs. Select Committee: They Win.

I have been following Presidential politics since 1960 when JFK was elected, which means I have covered 12 Presidential administrations through Biden, and I do not believe that any other President has faced the challenge to their stature and to their personal or professional well-being that Trump now faces with the release of the January 6th Select Committee report.

Johnson quit without seeking a second term because of the Viet Nam War. Nixon quit the Oval Office because he was afraid he wouldn’t survive an impeachment for covering up some crimes. Reagan had to live down the Iran-Contra scandal and Clinton was impeached because he lied about the pipe jobs he got from Monica while he leaned back against the Resolute desk.

So, four of the twelve Presidents who have been elected since 1960 ended their tenure in ways they certainly didn’t imagine their careers would end. But none of these men faced what Trump may be facing now.

Before Bennie Thompson opened today’s session, I assumed we would get some standard pablum about how January 6th was a threat to democracy, how the Committee’s report would fill in some blanks, how we would eventually learn if the Department of Justice was going to take any action against anyone, and now we could get on with a normal state of political affairs.