Rodentia seek egress from compromised water vessel
By 
Twenty-four hours after inciting a deadly riot on Capitol Hill, Donald Trump appeared to finally grasp the political peril and legal jeopardy sure to consume the waning days of his presidency and perhaps beyond. According to Republicans close to the White House, Trump posted the two-and-a-half-minute video Thursday night—during which he grudgingly acknowledged Joe Biden’s win for the first time—as an attempt to stave off prosecution or being removed from office via impeachment or the 25th Amendment. “He knows how bad things got. He knew he fucked up,” a 2020 campaign adviser told me. “This was the political Charlottesville,” a former West Wing official said.
According to one Republican briefed on internal conversations, Trump was swayed in part by Senator Lindsey Graham. The source said Graham called Trump yesterday [note this means Thursday] and explained that there were enough Republican votes in the Senate to remove Trump from office unless he conceded the election and diffused tensions. “He told Trump that he had to say there would be a ‘peaceful transition.’ Those were the key words,” the Republican said. (In the video Trump said: “My focus now turns to ensuring a smooth, orderly, and seamless transition of power.”)
Graham did not respond to requests for comment. The White House did not respond for comment.
Trump’s fear of legal exposure is also being driven by his conversations with White House counsel Pat Cipollone. A source close to the West Wing told me Cipollone warned staff on Wednesday that they could be at risk if they helped Trump fuel the riot. “The warning he gave triggered resignations,” the source said. On Friday morning CNN reported that Cipollone is considering resigning.
Part of what’s going on here is that the videos that are coming out now are FAR worse than what was available a couple of days ago, which came mostly from the seditionists themselves. (One in particular that I saw this morning of a police officer being crushed by the mob and screaming for help while blood pools in his mouth is just horrifying).
Trump running around Twitter trying to post things like some 12-year-old boy who had his XBox taken away also isn’t helping him any.
If McConnell wants to delay the Senate trial until after the inauguration he can do that, at which point things very complicated legally, as I’ll outline in another post. But at this point I’m not completely sure he wants to, given that burning Trump at the metaphorical stake could be in the interest of many Republicans who would like us not to waste time arguing and bickering about who killed who.