Signs of Gravity's Return

Sidney Powell flips, Jim Jordan is rejected twice, Joe Biden demonstrates real leadership

"Subduing the Kraken." Sidney Powell takes a plea deal. (Photo by Sarah Silbiger for The Washington Post via Getty Images)

My first reaction to the news that Trump advisor Sidney Powell was pleading guilty in Georgia for six misdemeanor counts of conspiracy to interfere with the election and then reading her punishments: “Thats it?” For her role in the breach of voting equipment and the RICO conspiracy, despite her significant role in undermining public trust in our democracy, Georgia prosecutors agreed to her facing just six years of probation, a fine of $6,000, $2,700 in restitution to Georgia, a letter of apology to Georgia citizens, and her pledge to turn over documents and testify truthfully against any and all of her codefendants. That’s it?

But gradually it dawned on me that, not only will the prosecution now have a strong witness who was in the room for a variety of meetings when Donald Trump, Rudy Guiliani and many of the other co-conspirators plotted their crimes, she is going to give serious pause to the rest of this nefarious bunch still sticking with their criminal kingpin.

Yes, Sidney Powell, the hardcore conspiracist and liar who provides precise definition to the meaning of wackadoodle (someone who is “eccentric, wrongheaded, bizarre or foolish”), deserves incarceration for her dangerous role in Jan. 6 and helping convince millions of Americans to believe in the lie of election fraud, then and now. Yes, in my view, nothing she can say or do should lead us to forgive or forget the harm she’s done. (An apology to Georgians? How about handwritten apologies to every single voter in America?)

Recall she was the one who claimed there was a Venezuelan plot to rig voting machines and was so close to Trump that he—in that alternate universe of December 2020—considered naming her a special counsel to investigate voter fraud. That was at the raucous post-election meeting that included her unhinged client Michael Flynn, the former Trump national security advisor, who was pushing for Trump to impose martial law and deploy the military to “rerun” the election. The next day after that meeting Trump tweeted his infamous message: “Statistically impossible to have lost the 2020 Election. Big protest in D.C. on January 6th. Be there, will be wild.”

But Powell’s flipping just days before her trial was to begin is a moment that offers a ray of light. For someone so untethered from reality, so willing to say anything to support her dear leader, so craven in her ambition to exist in Trump’s inner circle, so convinced that reality and the law do not apply to her or her hero, we can now see that gravity has returned. Sidney Powell has grasped that she cannot continue her lying ways and expect to keep flying high.

Let’s apply this same lens to Jim Jordan and his bullying campaign to take the speaker’s gavel. Beyond the five reasons I detailed earlier this week why this man—this bully, this failed legislator, this Trump sycophant, this insurrectionist—should not be in control of the House, he provided fresh evidence for any uncertain members of his own party.

Yes, he garnered 200 Republican votes on the first round—200 Republicans who were willing to give power to this "legislative terrorist,” as former speaker John Boehner put it, and increase the chances that Jordan would be positioned to put Trump back in power in 2024, no matter what the actual vote confirms. But then, on the second round, his vote total fell to 199, 19 below the needed 218; this declining number was an expression of the clear resistance from more moderate House Republicans who reside in Biden strongholds and worry about allying with him, as well as Republicans who got a good taste of the bullying tactics he applies to his enemies that lead to death threats if they refuse to do his bidding.

Note the statement from Iowa Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, a Republican who voted for Jordan in the first round, then switched and voted on Wednesday for Kay Granger, chair of the House Appropriations Committee. The result? “I have received credible death threats and a barrage of threatening calls,” she said, leading her to reach out to authorities. “One thing I cannot stomach, or support is a bully…I did not stand for bullies before I voted for Chairwoman Granger and when I voted for Speaker designee Jordan, and I will not bend to bullies now.”

So as much as we all are contending with a failed party unable to fulfill its responsibilities at a time of terrible realities in Israel, Gaza, Ukraine and at home—because Jordan and his extremist Republicans have unleashed chaos and conflict as the desired outcome of their tragic hostility to government and governing—we can also take heart that a small collection of their members recognize that Jordan is a road too far. Yes, they may despise Jordan himself and his despicable tactics, but their refusal to support him taking over the speakership—however few in numbers they may be—also reflects a surviving desire for actual governance.

Amid the congressional madness that will continue to unfold in the days ahead as Jordan tries (and fails) again to get the gavel, including today, we can find reason for optimism: the laws of gravity are still operative. Even as Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries condemns Jordan and reminds us that Democrats are prepared to govern and fulfill their sworn duties, we can see that the anti-government, nihilistic MAGA extremists will not rule the roost and drag the rest of us down with them. Let’s call that a ray of light in the darkness—unless, that is, by some tragic joke, Jordan’s third attempt to win the vote succeeds today.

Lastly, I would be remiss not to pause and express my respect for President Biden and his trip to Israel on Wednesday. Entering a war zone, even with the protections afforded him, takes courage. Just like his trip to Kyiv in February, this was an expression of leadership that makes me proud. (Imagine trying to convince the cowardly former guy, who feared going outside in the Paris rain and mussing his hair, that he should take such a trip.)

Over the two weeks since the atrocities perpetrated in Israel by Hamas on October 7, the American president has been fierce in expressing his beliefs and his commitment to Israel and the Jewish people. That has included clearly distinguishing the terrorist Hamas from the struggles of the Palestinian people and discouraging unmitigated vengeance that will only exacerbate the already inflamed region.

Biden’s 15-minute speech last night from the Oval Office, less than a day after his return, was powerful, poignant and a reminder of the stakes America and the world faces in this tumultuous moment. Seeking additional funding, he succeeded at the difficult rhetorical task of connecting the realities of Ukraine and Israel.

“Hamas and Putin represent different threats, but share this in common: They both want to completely annihilate a neighboring democracy,” he said, seeking to make both of these conflicts relevant for doubtful Americans. “History has taught us when terrorists don’t pay a price for their terror, when dictators don’t pay a price for their aggression…they cause more chaos and death.”

And more, “If we walk away and let Putin erase Ukraine’s independence, would-be aggressors around the world would be emboldened to try the same. The risk of conflict and chaos could spread to other parts of the world, in the Indo-Pacific and the Middle East, especially the Middle East. Iran is supporting Russia in Ukraine and it’s supporting Hamas.”

Turning to his vision of America and foreign policy, Biden offered about as clear a differentiation from the man who preceded—and dreams of replacing—him as I’ve heard.

American leadership is what holds the world together. American alliances are what keep us, America, safe. American values are what make us a partner that other nations want to work with. We put all that at risk if we walk away from Ukraine, if we turn our back on Israel.

The president noted his role in facilitating humanitarian aid to Gaza from Egypt with the help of the United Nations, and he underscored his hope for the future: “As hard as it is, we cannot give up on peace. We cannot give up on a two-state solution.”

And he ended his speech by reminding us how fundamental empathy is, both in a leader and in the nation, and of the need to overcome hate. “We must, without equivocation, denounce antisemitism. We must also, without equivocation, denounce Islamophobia.” He continued:

And to all those of you hurting, I want you to know: I see you. You belong. And I want to say this to you: You’re all Americans. In moments like these, when fear and suspicion, anger and rage run hard, we have to work harder than ever to hold onto the values that make us who we are…We reject all forms of hate.

From the halls of Congress to the courtroom of Georgia, from the streets of America and worlds beyond, the work is to recognize the agents of chaos and conflict bent on fueling crisis and violence—and employ both the tools of justice and the values of democracy to regain our equilibrium and a healthier body politic. Even when it’s tough, even when the laws of gravity can be hard to see.

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