‘This Is Called a Coup’: Legal Experts Weigh in on Bombshell Meadows News

Legal experts are voicing concern on the news Mark Meadows, then-President Donald Trump’s White House chief of staff, in a Jan. 5 email wrote that the National Guard would be present the following day to ‘‘protect pro Trump people.” And they’re quite clear is calling it a “coup.”

Attorney, former U.S. Secretary of State and former U.S. Senator (among many other public service roles,) Hillary Clinton calls what the GOP is doing now a “slow-motion coup.”

Asha Rangappa, an attorney, former FBI special agent and former Yale Law School associate dean on the Meadows’ email

The “plan” was for the National Guard to be enlisted in helping to obstruct Congress, delay the electoral vote count, and prevent the peaceful transition of power.

🎶 this is called a coup 🎶

— Asha Rangappa (@AshaRangappa_) December 13, 2021

“Reminder,” writes attorney and SiriusXM Progress host Dean Obeidallah, “the reason what trump [sic] and his Allies did to prevent the transfer of power was a crime is because there was never evidence of fraud. They literally fabricated that claim and then sought to overturn election based on that lie. That’s called a coup. They must be charged!”

Luke Zaleski, Condé Nast’s Legal Affairs Editor asks, “You wanna prove all the trumpers are liars and traitors trying to overthrow the legitimate government of the United States and steal the nation and take our freedom and our vote away? Just have Kamala Harris and Joe Biden execute Trump’s coup memos and incite insurrection in 2024.”

Richard Painter, the well-known law professor and former chief White House ethics lawyer says: “National Guard troops ready to protect insurrectionists who then stormed the Capitol, but not ready to protect Members of Congress and the Vice President? It sure looks like somebody was planning a military coup. Now, almost a year later, where is DOJ?”

Calling the Jan. 6 insurrection “Watergate x10,” and “a coup attempt” Tristan Snell, the former New York State prosecutor who won the case against Trump University, late Sunday night issued a warning to the press, which seems somewhat unheeded:

If Mark Meadows is not headline news on Monday — the mainstream media is risking a total loss of its credibility and relevance.

January 6 was a coup attempt. In America. It’s Watergate x10. The biggest story these editors and producers will ever see — and they’re missing it.

— Tristan Snell (@TristanSnell) December 13, 2021

Image: Screenshot of Mark Meadows and Donald Trump from Donald Trump Jr.’s film of the pre-insurrection watch party