Columnist: Trump’s own treachery has turned his ally into a potentially dangerous witness
Former President Donald Trump has a reputation for demanding total loyalty. But he may come to regret his decision to un-endorse Mo Brooks' bid for the U.S. Senate, according to a prominent political columnist.
As Washington Post opinion writer Jennifer Rubin observed, on Wednesday when Trump cancelled his endorsement Brooks for a Senate seat in Alabama, Trump may have prodded Brooks into becoming a valuable witness for the House committee investigating the deadly Jan. 6 insurrection.
Not long after Trump withdrew his endorsement, Brooks issued a written statement claiming that Trump pleaded with him to "rescind the 2020 elections, immediately remove Joe Biden from the White House, immediately put President Trump back in the White House."
Rubin writes: "If Trump asked Brooks to rescind the election, as Brooks alleged, and if Trump understood from Brooks that there was no legitimate way to overturn the election, Trump’s risk of being charged with obstruction of an official proceeding (i.e., the electoral-vote-counting session), attempting to defraud the United States or seditious conspiracy increases dramatically."
Brooks had repeatedly praised Trump and tried to portray himself as the MAGA candidate in the Alabama Senate race. He had even claimed that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from Trump.
Rubin posits, "One might be skeptical of the veracity of a claim from a congressman who eagerly spread the 'big lie' of a stolen election. But the benefit of the Jan. 6 committee’s exhaustive investigation is that any testimony he gives can be corroborated by scores of documents and other witnesses’ testimony. Brooks’s testimony might simply put an exclamation on the account of Trump’s treachery and betrayal of his oath."
In conclusion she writes: "Trump might come to regret pulling the rug out from under Brooks. Sometimes you want to keep friends close — and potentially dangerous witnesses closer."