The Coup

[Jolly]

Opinion | An American Coup Attempt

Time may be running out to expose the effort to overthrow Trump, which began before his election.

By
Ron Johnson
Oct. 8, 2020 2:21 pm ET

The U.S. is in a constitutional crisis. It began on the day of President Trump’s election, when unelected bureaucrats mobilized against his presidency. This is a crisis in the executive branch, perpetrated by subordinate officials who don’t see themselves as answerable to the president. They have effectively established a fourth branch of government—a permanent, unaccountable bureaucracy.

The first public display of insurrection began with leaked transcripts of Mr. Trump’s phones call with Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto on Jan. 27, 2017, and Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull the following day. As the Senate Homeland Security Committee reported, the Trump administration was plagued with 62 leaks possibly endangering national security in its first 125 days, compared with nine such leaks under George W. Bush and eight under Barack Obama. In 2019 a “whistleblower” upped the ante by leaking details of Mr. Trump’s phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. This fueled Mr. Trump’s impeachment in December.

Between those examples of mutiny against the president, corrupt actors within the Federal Bureau of Investigation—and apparently, based on recent disclosures, other parts of the intelligence community—used their power to sabotage the administration. Their actions can only be described as an attempted coup—as the Ukraine whistleblower’s attorney, Mark Zaid, did in a Jan. 30, 2017, tweet: “#coup has started. First of many steps. #rebellion. #impeachment will follow ultimately.”

Throughout this constitutional crisis, many journalists abetted the plotters by abandoning even the pretense of objectivity and claiming that Mr. Trump poses a grave threat to the country. These members of the press were willing recipients of leaks that created and perpetuated the false narrative that the Trump campaign colluded with Russia. Not one member of the media has exposed these sources of false information. They know who the leakers and plotters are; they won’t tell you.

Fortunately, there are people who are working to uncover the truth. Former House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes, Attorney General William Barr, former acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell, his successor, John Ratcliffe and my committee, along with the Senate Finance and Judiciary committees, are working to declassify important information and make it public. Unfortunately, uncovering the truth isn’t easy, and time may be running out. Should Joe Biden win the presidency, the truth may be hidden forever.

To Read the Full Story:

https://www.wsj.com/articles/an-american-coup-attempt-11602181261