Pulitzer Prize winner Carol Leonnig of the Washington Post is interviewed by Rachel Maddow in the clip below and, as usual, Maddow does a great job of getting to the heart of the matters involving the actions of the Secret Service on Jan. 6.
Leonnig is the author of the book “Zero Fail: The Rise and Fall of the Secret Service“ and is considered a leading expert on the failings of the Secret Service (USSS) and the ways that extremism has infiltrated even that once-hallowed agency.
I learned a couple things watching the clip:
- Some USSS agents were cheering on the insurrectionists on Jan. 6, even going so far as saying that much on their personal social media accounts.
- Members of Vice President Pence’s national security team were suspicious that leaders in Trump’s USSS team would, if Pence got into his limousine while the insurrection was happening, drive Pence “off to Alaska.”
I knew Pence refused USSS requests that he be whisked away from the Capitol. But I’ve seen that mostly portrayed as Pence not wanting to be seen as running away. This is the first time I’ve seen it said so clearly that Pence’s people actually believed that members of Trump’s USSS detail seen as “yes men” to Trump were assumed to be getting Pence away specifically so they could block the election from moving to its final stages.
Strange and scary times we live in.
I don’t think anyone will truly ever understand completely what Trump and his people would have done had they managed to block the election of Joe Biden. Or how close they came to doing it.