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Episode 59: Pulitzer Prize winning reporter Philip Rucker
Manage episode 299310806 series 2945875
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Sen. Mitt Romney was warned ahead of the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol that he might be the target of violence from supporters of former President Donald Trump. That warning came from fellow Sen. Angus King of Maine, who himself was alerted to possible violence by America’s top military leaders.
That’s just one of the dozens of startling revelations contained in the new book “I Alone Can Fix It: Donald J. Trump’s Catastrophic Final Year” by Washington Post reporters Philip Rucker and Carol Leonnig.
Rucker says Gen. Mark Milley, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was alarmed by threats of violence on social media, so he gave Sen. King a heads up.
“King then thought Mitt Romney is definitely a target. He’s persona non grata for Trump world and MAGA supporters. King gave Romney a call who was at home with his wife,” Rucker says.
Rucker and Leonnig spoke at length with Romney for their book. Romney told the pair he informed his wife, Ann, about the threats of violence as he prepared to return to Washington to certify Democrat Joe Biden’s win in the 2020 election over Trump. Ann Romney pleaded with Mitt not to return to D.C., because it was too dangerous and his life could be at stake.
“Mitt said he had to go back because it’s his job and his duty. ‘Nothing is going to keep me from going, and by the way, I’ll be safe in the U.S. Capitol. There’s nothing that’s going to happen to me there,’ he told her,” Rucker said.
Rucker says Romney was warned by his staffers on January 6 he had to get to safety as rioters broke into the Capitol. That led to the dramatic video of Romney running into Capitol Police Officer Eugene Goodman who told him to return to the Senate chamber because the rioters were just seconds away.
“It’s a chilling reminder of how close he came to real violence and potentially losing his life. He’s the first person, maybe the second person behind Mike Pence, but one of the first people those rioters would have wanted to destroy,” Rucker says.
Philip Rucker on Twitter: @PhilipRucker
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