Photograph by Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty ImagesDonald Trump was reminded twice more Friday that he is not president. He and his minions may chant Lock her up over Hillary Clinton and other enemies but it is Trump who is still in legal jeopardy.Related: DoJ demands that the IRS turn over Trump's tax returns to CongressTrump's allies on Capitol Hill are going to be again forced to defend the indefensible. It won't be a problem: QAnon, Trump and Gladiator are their creeds.The world has also changed in many other ways. Trump's West Wing is no longer Trump's extension. The justice department is now independent. Trump has lost access to all the levers of government.Trump's actions in January helped to deliver the Georgia Senate seats to Democrats. However, the insurrection is about to start. His antics could cost Republicans the chance to regain the Senate.Now, documents that might not have been seen if Trump had won the election are available for scrutiny. They include contemporaneous accounts of Trump's conversations or tax returns.People who claim the events of 6 January were anything other than a failed coup attempt are advised to find a better line. Or a different alternate reality.Potential witnesses in front of the House select committee regarding the events on 6 January should start to worryAshli Babbitt will not be a martyr. No matter what MyPillow says, Trump will not be re-elected to the presidency. Trump's protestations and machinations show the despair that comes from watching the abyss. He is aware of what he has done and said.First, Friday morning news broke that the justice dept had given Congress copies of notes from a damning conversation between Trump and Jeffrey Rosen (then acting attorney general) and Richard Donoghue (rosens deputy).The New York Times reported that Trump was told by Main Justice by his powers that there was no evidence for widespread electoral fraud.Continue the storyHe said: Simply say the election was corrupt and leave the rest to us.This goes beyond just trying to twist the truth. George Conway, an anti-Trump Republican with a high profile and well-connected network, said: It is difficult to overstate the degree of criminal intent of the former man.A White House veteran who served under President Bush said to the Guardian: "Leave the rest to us sure sounds like foreknowledge."The former aide suggested that you just connect the dates and dots.Ten days later, the insurrection broke out. Steve Bannon, the ex-Trump campaign chair and White House strategist, stated it on 5 January that all hell would break loose.Truer words have never been spoken.Trump was not happy that Friday's news cycle ended with the events on 27 December. A few hours later, Trump's second attorney general Bill Barr was replaced by the DoJs Office of Legal Counsel, which was responsible for setting policy. The OLC, Trump's policy-setting arm, stated that Trumps tax returns couldn’t be shared with the House Ways and Means committee.Since Watergate, presidential candidates and presidents have made their tax returns public as a standard procedure. Trump's refusal to release his tax returns was yet another break in the norm, and a sign of what would come.The OLC found that the request by the committee for records was compliant with the relevant statute. The OLC noted that the request would support the principal objective of the panel to assess the IRS presidential audit program as a legitimate area for congressional inquiry.The DoJ was merely echoing the supreme courts' actions. The court rejected Trump's claim that the Manhattan district lawyer could not examine his tax returns a little more than a year ago and, in a separate case held that Congress could also inspect his taxes.In the second case, the court decided 7-2 that the president's argument that Congress did not have the right to examine his financial records and tax returns was untrue. John Roberts, chief justice of the majority, stated: When Congress seeks information necessary for intelligent legislative action it unquestionably remains citizens' duty to cooperate.Trump had already appointed two judges to the Supreme Court. Both were part of the final outcome. So much for feeling beholden.The House select committee should be concerned about potential witnesses to the events of 6 Jan. This is Kevin McCarthy, the House minority leader and Congressman Jim Jordan. You have admitted that you spoke with Trump on that day.Merrick Garlands justice division was able to continue Trump's government defense in E Jean Carrolls defamation case. Biden's attorney general is expected to block Trump. It's highly unlikely.The justice department doesn't appear to be ready to help those who tried to reverse the election. It has already refused to defend Mo Brooks (an Alabama congressman) who wore a Kevlar vest at a pre-riot rally on 6 January.Related: Trump urges DoJ to investigate election corruption after losing to BidenAdded to that, Democrats control Congress, and Liz Cheney (dissident Republican from Wyoming, member of the 6 Jan committee), hates Jordan. It's personal.Jim Jordan, that fucking man. According to Carol Leonnig of the Washington Post and Philip Rucker, Cheney, the son of a bitch told Gen Mark Milley about Jordan.Adam Kinzinger, an Illinois Republican, who voted to impeach Trump on 6 January, and has now joined the select committee may also be in mood to teach a lesson. The House Democrats might want to see McCarthy and Jordan sweat. When it withdrew cooperation, the House GOP received the committee it requested. It will face unwelcome consequences.Trump may still harbor presidential ambitions and dream of revenge. However, it doesn't come easy, as Ringo Starr sang.
