(New York) Rudolph Giuliani was not in top form in the hours following the November 3, 2020 presidential election.
Updated yesterday at 11:51 p.m.
What you need to know
- Enough evidence to charge Donald Trump, according to the January 6 commission;
- “The forces that led to the assault are still at work today,” warns Joe Biden;
- Donald Trump “ignited the flame”;
- Unpublished images recall the extreme violence of the assault of January 6, 2021 were presented on June 9;
- Police officer Caroline Edwards testified to the violence of that day, during which she suffered a concussion;
On video – Footage of police officer Caroline Edwards unconscious after being struck during the January 6 assault
- Bill Barr a souligné que les allégations de fraude du président défait, impliquant de supposées machines à voter manipulées, étaient « absolument n’importe quoi » ;
- La fille et ancienne conseillère de M. Trump, Ivanka Trump, a déclaré qu’elle « acceptait » leur rejet des allégations par M. Barr.
« Il était certainement en état d’ivresse », s’est souvenu Jason Miller, ancien conseiller de Donald Trump.
« Le maire Giuliani disait : ‟Nous avons gagné. Ils nous volent. D’où viennent tous ces votes ? Nous devons aller dire que nous avons gagné.” »
Cette nuit-là, à la Maison-Blanche, William Stepien, autre conseiller de Donald Trump, a tenté en vain d’empêcher Giuliani d’encourager son plus célèbre client à crier victoire.
Photo JONATHAN ERNST, archives REUTERS
Rudy Giuliani lors d’une conférence de presse organisée à Washington, le 19 novembre 2020.
« Il était bien trop tôt pour faire des appels de ce genre. Les bulletins de vote étaient encore en train d’être comptés », a rappelé celui qui était alors directeur de l’équipe de campagne du 45e président.
Qu’à cela ne tienne : à 2 h 30 du matin, Donald Trump a suivi l’avis de son avocat personnel apparemment ivre plutôt que celui de ses experts politiques. Il s’est ainsi déclaré vainqueur d’une élection que les démocrates tentaient selon lui de voler.
C’était le début du « grand mensonge » qui a mené à l’attaque du 6 janvier 2021 contre le Capitole, point culminant d’un « coup d’État » orchestré par Donald Trump, selon la commission du Congrès chargée d’enquêter sur cet assaut contre la démocratie américaine.
C’était aussi la phase initiale d’une « grande arnaque » qui allait permettre à Donald Trump et à ses alliés de récolter 250 millions de dollars auprès de partisans aveuglés. C’est du moins ce que la commission a affirmé mardi lors de sa deuxième audition publique en juin.
« Nous montrerons […] that the Trump campaign used these false claims of voter fraud to raise hundreds of millions of dollars from supporters who were told their donations were for the legal fight in court,” the Democratic Rep. of California Zoe Lofgren as a curtain raiser.
“But the Trump campaign didn’t use the money for that. The big lie was also a big scam,” she added, paving the way for a potential indictment of the former president and his allies on fraudulent fundraising charges.
“Detached from reality”
But the “big lie” dominated the second committee hearing on Jan. 6. And for nearly two hours, viewers must have felt like they were witnessing the political equivalent of the film. Flight over a cuckoo’s nest.
The commission heard numerous testimonies from members of Donald Trump’s entourage, including Stepien, Miller and Jared Kushner, who tried unsuccessfully to distract him from his lies about the presidential ballot.
“That’s not the approach I would take if I were you,” Kushner told his stepfather.
But the testimony of former United States Attorney General William Barr will undoubtedly have been the most powerful. The commission presented video excerpts from a deposition in which the latter recalled having repeatedly told Donald Trump that his allegations of electoral fraud were unfounded.
Allegations he called “bullshit”, “crazy stuff”, “total nonsense” and “idiocy”, among others.
Before submitting his resignation in December 2020, William Barr even wondered if Donald Trump was still in his right mind.
I was a little demoralized, because I was like, damn it, if he really believes any of this, he’s, you know, lost touch with…he’s become detached from reality.
William Barr, former United States Attorney General
The allegations referred to by William Barr were defended not only by Rudolph Giuliani, but also by Sidney Powell, a lawyer who exposed extensive electoral fraud involving technology company Dominion, Venezuela and financier George Soros, among others.
Christ Stirewalt, former political editor of Fox News, is one of the witnesses who appeared in person before the commission. He recalled the circumstances that prompted the channel to declare Joe Biden the winner in Arizona as early as 11:20 p.m. on November 3, 2020, causing anger and consternation at the White House.
“Our decision-making desk was the best in the business,” he said, adding that Donald Trump had no reason to declare victory in the hours that followed.
Coincidentally or not, Fox News broadcast the public hearing live after skipping last Thursday night’s hearing, which was watched live by at least 20 million people.
The next public hearing will take place on Wednesday morning. According to commission vice-chairman Liz Cheney, it will focus on Donald Trump’s plan “to corrupt the Justice Department and his detailed planning with attorney John Eastman to pressure” Vice President Mike Pence and several other local officials to overturn the election.
With Agence France-Presse