I’m not at all impressed by President Donald Trump’s executive order aimed at maximizing the development and production of Alaska’s natural recourses. I think the economic benefits and environmental risks are both overstated.
Changing Denali back to Mt. McKinley isn’t a concern either. It can just as easily be changed back by a future president who actually cares about what Alaskans think.
But both orders were made entirely insignificant by Trump’s all-out attack on the rule of law.
First, he gave “full, complete and unconditional pardons” to about 200 people convicted of violently attacking police officers during the Jan. 6 insurrection. And to another 400 others who prevented the officers from carrying out their lawful duty to maintain order at the Capital.
Then he completely mutilated irony with an executive order directing the attorney general to “appropriately prioritize public safety and the prosecution of violent crime.”
It gets worse.
He issued an executive order titled “Ending the Weaponization of the Federal Government.” But it’s intended to do the exact opposite.
The order begins with the completely unsubstantiated allegation that President Joe Biden’s “administration and allies throughout the country engaged in an unprecedented, third-world weaponization of prosecutorial power to upend the democratic process.”
He then directs the attorney general and director of national intelligence to open investigations to identify such acts, and recommend “appropriate remedial action.” That should be understood as prosecuting as anyone who tried to hold him accountable for attempting to remain in power after he verifiably lost the 2020 election.
This dangerous direction that Trump is taking the country in is compounded by his delusion or con artist act that God had a hand in his political comeback.
“In a beautiful Pennsylvania field, an assassin’s bullet ripped through my ear,” he said during his inauguration speech. “But I felt then and believe, even more so now, that my life was saved for a reason. I was saved by God to make America great again.”
The truth is there would have been no rally that day and no assassination attempt if Republican senators had properly convicted Trump during his second impeachment trial four years ago.
“There’s no question, none, that President Trump is practically and morally responsible” for the insurrection, then-Senate Minority Lead Mitch McConnell stated after voting to acquit him. He said Trump alone engineered “the campaign of disinformation and rage” that provoked what he called an act of “terrorism.”
He concluded by saying “former presidents are not immune from being held accountable” by our criminal justice system.
That was the exact same argument presented during the impeachment trial by Trump’s defense attorneys. The U.S. Department of Justice was “the appropriate” branch of our government “for investigation, prosecution and punishment,” not Congress. And if there was evidence “that President Trump committed a criminal offense” he could be arrested after he is out of office.
McConnell more or less predicted two of the five charges in the August 2023 indictment related to the insurrection — “directing supporters to the Capitol to obstruct” certification of the Electoral College votes;” and “exploiting the violence and chaos that transpired.”
Trump’s new defense attorneys argued that every time he spoke about there being evidence of massive election fraud, he was merely “advocating his opinions” about the election outcome. That means Trump knew he had no facts to back any of it up.
That’s a truth that Rep. Nick Begich III refuses to acknowledge. Instead, he’ll support the Select Committee House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) is establishing to investigate “all events leading up to and after Jan. 6.” Their supposed mission will be to expose “the false narratives peddled by the politically motivated January 6 Select Committee” and “uncover the full truth that is owed to the American people.”
Properly stated, that means rewriting history to cover up Trump’s crimes.
I suspect McConnell regrets his acquittal vote. Had he known that U.S. Supreme Court would turn his arguments about prosecuting a former president upside down, he would have found enough votes to prohibit Trump from ever holding any federal office ever again.
What I know for sure though is Trump’s hope that “National unity is now returning to America” will never be realized until there’s a commonly understood truth that he lost the 2020 election.
Rich Moniak is a Juneau resident and retired civil engineer with more than 25 years of experience working in the public sector.
