Former President Donald Trump is apoplectic following the release of the Hunter Biden Twitter files by new Twitter owner Elon Musk.
His reaction is considered by some, tantamount to political self-immolation.
First, some background: Journalist Matt Taibbi broke down the released documents in a Twitter thread that corroborated the details of the incident. A debate erupted inside Twitter’s leadership team in the hours following a New York Post exposé on Hunter Biden’s laptop. Some argued against suppressing the story, others said it seemed to follow the Kremlin’s disinformation playbook to throw the presidential election into chaos.
However, according to Taibbi’s information (which Musk reportedly gave to Taibbi), the consequential — and mistaken — decision to temporarily suppress the story was made by Twitter and Twitter alone.
At one point, Taibbi said, “there is no evidence — that I’ve seen — of any government involvement in the laptop story.”
National Review notes:
Taibbi’s “piece,” such as it was (the qualification is necessary because it was unveiled on Twitter), contained few, if any, explosive revelations for people who have been tuned in to the debacle surrounding Twitter’s suppression of the New York Post story on Hunter Biden’s laptop. It confirms that Twitter’s employees were progressives trapped in a progressive bubble making indefensibly ad hoc decisions on the basis of their left-wing political priors that resulted in the disgraceful censorship of information that turned out to be both 100 percent accurate and of acute national political interest. Notably, Taibbi’s reporting seems (at least preliminarily) to clear the Biden campaign team of involvement in the decision to censor the New York Post’s story, establishing an important fact in the case (albeit not in the direction certain partisans might have hoped).
In response, Trump posted to his social media site, saying, “A Massive Fr*ud of this type and magnitude allows for the termination of all rules, regulations, and articles, even those found in the Constitution.”
Hot Air‘s David Strom has more on the fallout, both political and legal:
There are several obvious things about Trump’s statement that are simply politically stupid. Like, really really stupid. Assuming there were no legal or ethical barriers to either calling a new election or suspending the Constitution (stay with me here, I know that is insane!), it is still politically stupid.
America is facing huge economic problems, international problems, and huge internal divisions that are tearing the country apart. Nobody but a small fringe wants to re-litigate the 2020 elections. Not only is that intuitively obvious, the 2022 midterm elections put an exclamation point on that fact. Candidates that looked back to the 2020 elections lost, those who looked forward to solving problems won.
Imagine having an ad hoc presidential campaign or an effective coup in the midst of all the challenges we face. Our friends and adversaries would see a weak, divided America and international chaos would ensue. It would be a disaster. The world economy would be shaken far more than it is. It would be a crisis of enormous proportions.
Legally, there’s no precedent for Trump’s call to ignore our most sacred documents, which Strom compared to Caesar’s rise to power.
Also–stay with me here–doing what Trump is suggesting is exactly the opposite of the Oath of Office. You know, that binding, giving your word thing? That makes you legitimate? That you swore on the Bible to uphold?
This is a breaking news story. Check back with American Liberty News for the latest updates.
READ NEXT: Republicans Pledge to Oppose Spending Bill Unless Biden Agrees to Their Demands >>
