Donald Trump visited Capitol Hill Thursday for the first time since launching the Jan. 6 insurrection. He dropped in at the Capitol Hill Club to collect tokens of obedience from Republicans in Congress, force “leaders” like Sen. Mitch McConnell to apologize for speaking out against his attempted coup, and to remind Republicans that this election is all him.
Republicans opened the gathering with a chorus of “Happy Birthday” to Trump. He doesn’t actually turn 78 until Friday, but apparently they’re holding their rendition of “God Save the King” for next year.
Trump and Republicans talked about some of the most important issues for the 2024 campaign, including more tax cuts for billionaires and Trump’s plans for mass deportations of immigrants. But the one thing Trump really wants, the one thing that was reportedly the subject of an “f-bomb”-laden phone call to Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, is something that Republicans can never give him: a clean criminal record.
Politico reports that Trump called Johnson soon after his 34-count felony conviction and demanded the speaker do something about it. “We have to overturn this,” Trump insisted.
Except there’s nothing Johnson really can do. Pardon power is available only to the president, not Congress. And even if Johnson and House MAGA did have the authority to grant Trump a get-out-of-verdict-free card, his conviction was in state court, not federal.
But Trump has reportedly been “obsessed” with the idea of using Republicans in Congress to do something about his conviction. If they can’t restore his good name, they can at least rain down bloody vengeance on his enemies. Can’t they?
News of Trump’s phone call puts a new spin on Republican demands to defund prosecutors and Johnson’s plan to punish the whole state of New York using a “three-pronged approach” after Trump was held accountable for his crimes.
“We’re looking at various approaches to what can be done here,” Johnson told reporters at a press conference, “through the appropriations process, through the legislative process, through bills that will be advancing through our committees and put it on the floor for passage, and also through oversight. All those things will be happening vigorously, because we have to do that because the stakes are too high.”
It will be absolutely unsurprising if House Republicans pass some form of bill chastising Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, the whole New York legal system, and perhaps Dutch traders for making a bad deal. But nothing they pass is going to stand a chance in the Senate, and even if it did, it wouldn’t make one whit of difference for Trump, who is still going to have to stand for sentencing on July 11.
Johnson came out of his Thursday morning meeting with Trump saying that he expects “to grow the House majority” and explained that he told Trump that majority will help him. That help will likely be limited to some symbolic statement of high dudgeon that won’t have any legal standing. However, it would give Trump something he could wave while claiming he was innocent and that the courts were illegal, etc. It would also provide endless fodder for more fundraising emails.
In exchange for their promises of fealty, Trump focused hard on important issues and policies. Like his anger over how Taylor Swift refused to endorse him and incomprehensible claims about Nancy Pelosi’s daughter.
Trump also reportedly ran through his recent campaign bit about fictional serial killer Hannibal Lector calling him a “nice guy who even had a friend over for dinner.” As with his shark vs. battery ramble, no one really knows what Trump is talking about, or why he’s so obsessed with this. He just is.
Then Trump left the Republicans with this upbeat thought:
Trump might not have to worry about going to Milwaukee, because he could have a scheduling conflict when the convention rolls around.
So it’s nice Republicans got in their little visit this morning. Who knows when they’ll all be together again?
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