Background Briefing: November 30, 2021
Reports Emerge That Trump Played a Hands-on Role in the Coup Attempt
We begin with reports emerging that Trump played a hands-on role in directing his aides to have the 2020 election results overturned after having failed to convince his Vice President not to certify Biden’s victory. Joining us to discuss progress or the lack thereof in bringing Trump and the coup plotters to justice is David Rothkopf, a contributing columnist at USA TODAY and the Daily Beast as well as the CEO of TRG Media, producers of podcasts including “National Security Magazine” and “Deep State Radio” which Rothkopf hosts. Previously he was a senior official in the Clinton Administration and the editor of Foreign Policy Magazine and the author of a number of books including Running the World: The Inside Story of the National Security Council and the Architects of American Power, and his latest Traitor: A History of American Betrayal from Benedict Arnold to Donald Trump. We will discuss his article at The Daily Beast, “If Merrick Garland Doesn’t Charge Trump and His Coup Plotters, Our Democracy Is Toast” and whether AG Garland’s cautious approach towards punishing the insurrectionists is sufficient given the defiance of people like Steve Bannon.
Mixed Messages From Iran as the Nuclear Talks Resume
Then we look into the resumption of the nuclear talks in Vienna between Iran and China, Russia, France, the E.U. and the U.K. with indirect talks with the U.S. who the Iranian chief negotiator condemned today along with Israel. Joining us to discuss the possibility of getting a deal after Trump pulled out of what he considered the worst deal in the world, is Dr. Trita Parsi, the Executive Vice President of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft and the co-founder and former President of the National Iranian American Council. His books include, Losing An Enemy: Obama, Iran and the Triumph of Diplomacy, and his latest article at the Quincy Institute is “Whither The Iran Deal?.”