EPP TIDE

Republicans are posed to take control of the House tomorrow. That is if they can find a way to stop the circular firing squad. My prediction is that McCarthy will cut a deal and he will be the Speaker. If he responds positively to the legitimate concerns about Republican leadership, he could turn out to be very effective. He, unlike his critics, appears to be a least willing to admit some of his own mistakes.

One of the really interesting stories that is starting to blow up is the mysterious Ray Epps. Here are some of the known facts. There is video of Mr. Epps openly encouraging people to enter the capital. At a minimum, one has to wonder why he was never selected for prosecution. People who appear to have done much less have been prosecuted and convicted. Some have accused him of being an FBI informant or working for another government agency. Many people discount that, because it would be unthinkable, but based on a lot of stuff we have recently learned about the FBI, not all that unthinkable.

For example, while Epps was definitely encouraging people, there are reports that later he appears to be trying to assist the police. But actually, that is exactly what a good informant would do. Encourage people, push them over the edge, and then back off and pretend you weren’t even there. The real problem is that the January 6th committee knew about him, knew what he did, and then decided he was “ok.” Seriously?

Adam Kinzinger even said the videos of Epps encouraging people to enter the capital were lies. To be specific, here is what a tweet from Eric Matheny claimed:

In terms of culpability, Ray Epps is on video encouraging a crowd to riot and admitted such in a sworn statement (I also orchestrated it). House GOP has an obligation to find out his role, who he was communicating with, and who in power helped setup the events of January 6th.

Adam Kinzinger wrote: “Literally completely untrue.”

Yet, what Matheny wrote is pretty well documented. That begs the question, why is the January 6th committee so determined to cover this up?  There is a text from Ray Epps saying: ”I was in the front with a few others. I also orchestrated it.”

His response to the committee, after some carefully worded questions was: “it’s just – yeah, I took credit for it, but I didn’t know what I was taking credit for.”

This doesn’t come close to passing the smell test. It is hard to imagine someone doing and saying things like this just being ignored by the same DOJ and FBI that tracked people down all over the country for taking photo ops in the Capital. At a minimum, someone needs to dig down to see if there is more to the story. More importantly, why was the January 6th committee so determined to sweep this type of action by Ray Epps under the rug. Whether intentional or not, the January 6th committee just made Ray Epps really important.

The January 6th committee focused solely on convicting Donald Trump, for something. We recently learned that Nancy Pelosi not only refused to approve increased security, but she may also have instead ordered a reduction in security while arranging for a film crew to showcase her activities. At a minimum, this raises some very serious questions.

Combine this with the documented fact that it was Donald Trump who authorized the National Guard to protect the capital, him and it is difficult, in not impossible to reconcile that with him planning an insurrection.

The decision by the January 6th committee to make a criminal referral regarding Donald Trump is literally insane. Trump was President of the United States. Congress doesn’t get to recommend law enforcement take legal action against a sitting U.S. President. The SOLE remedy for congress is impeachment, which Democrats tried twice, and failed. Yet few in the MSM seem to notice the absurdity of all this.

One thing is absolutely certain. At least some Republicans are determined to reverse the mistakes made by the Republican Establishment leadership in both the House and the Senate. That starts with refusing to let Democrats gloss over something that stinks like the Ray Epps fiasco.

I think that Mr. Epps could literally be the straw that breaks the camel’s back, primarily because it is hard to imagine the January 6th committee doing anything for the right reason under any circumstances. That means the least likely explanation for the Ray Epps fiasco is that put forward by the January 6th committee. Soon and very soon we could see an Epp Tide come in and don’t be surprised if a lot of the coverup goes out with the Tide.

TDM