Why a Trump aide finally spoke up

RULING THE WEEK

On Wednesday, as a pro-Donald Trump mob stormed the Capitol in a siege that would end in the deaths of five people, something changed for Alyssa Farah.

The former White House communications director had been mostly quiet since her resignation about a month after the election, maintaining a Twitter account mostly supportive of the Republican Party and the conservative movement, writes Katelyn Fossett in POLITICO Magazine.

But now it was different.

“Condemn this now, @realDonaldTrump,” Farah tweeted at her former boss. “You are the only one they will listen to. For our country!” Her tone was increasingly pleading. “There were cases of fraud that should be investigated,” she wrote a bit later. “But the legitimate margins of victory for Biden are far too wide to change the outcome. … We must accept these results.”

How did a former White House communications director begin to see everything so differently once she was a month out of her job? In a Q&A published last night, Fossett talks to Farah about what Wednesday looked like to someone who was in the White House not so long ago, where she thinks the Republican Party goes from here, what she will do if Trump runs for re-election in 2024 and whether she still respects her former boss. Farah is already coming under heavy criticism by some for waiting this long to speak out. … Here are some edited excerpts:

Farah on her change of heart: “I made the decision to step down in December because I saw where this was heading, and I wasn’t comfortable being a part of sharing this message to the public that the election results might go a different way. I didn’t see that to be where the facts lay. ...

“And then Wednesday was really a boiling point showing that misleading the public has consequences. And what happened was unacceptable. It was unpatriotic. It was un-American. And I certainly fault the protesters — frankly, we should call them terrorists, but I fundamentally fault our elected leadership who allowed these people to believe that their election was stolen from them. The president and certain advisors around him are directly responsible.”

What Trump thought when: “Early on, I truly believe the president knew — when I was still in the White House in late November, he knew that he had lost. And it was something that was almost like tacitly acknowledged, like we’re going to make this painful, but we know what happened. And then, something turned. And I don’t know if it was the wrong advisors getting to him with bad information or what.”

On Sens. Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley and their efforts to challenge the Electoral College results: “I agree in theory with what the Cruz effort is. But you also need to be very clear in your messaging to the public that your efforts are not an endeavor to undo the results of the election. They are merely to show and to give confidence in the process. And Josh Hawley did an interview, and Bret Baier pushed him on this. The best thing they could have done is told the public: We’re going to pursue this; you have a right as Americans to have these questions answered. But I need you to know the results of the election are not going to be overturned.”

On whether Trump should run in 2024: “I think that it’s time for the party to move in a different direction. But I do think that we should not throw the baby out with the bathwater. And we need to remember that 74 million people turned out for him, the man, but also for the vision. We should take the best lessons from the Trump era and wed them with better parts of the Republican party, maybe a more compassionate tone in the future.”

INSIDE THE SIEGE -- Five POLITICO reporters were inside the Capitol yesterday, when rioters breached the building and brought the government to a halt. You’ll want to take some time to read their full accounts of those harrowing hours, published in POLITICO Magazine. But in the meantime, here’s an excerpt, a portrait of the House chambers as the building was invaded.

Melanie Zanona: Members started to get loud, they were talking to each other, they were starting to kind of go at each other. One member at one point, a Democrat, Steve Cohen, yelled over towards the Republican side of the room and said, “Call Trump and tell him to call this off.” And then a little bit later on, a lawmaker sitting on the Republican side shot back and said something along the lines of, “I bet you liberals are glad now you didn’t defund the police.” And he then said, “Let’s hear it for the Capitol Police.” Got a few people to start clapping.

Sarah Ferris: We were also told tear gas has been dispersed, spurring another flurry on the floor as staff sprinted to start distributing the escape hoods that Congress ordered as an emergency precaution after 9/11.

Olivia Beavers: We’re watching members take out these gas masks and you can hear the crumpling sound of the wrapping.

Olivia Beavers: Congressman [Ruben] Gallego stood up on a chair and told people to stay calm and take deep breaths or they’d pass out.

Melanie Zanona: And then a police officer is like, “OK, everyone, follow me.” The way the balconies are set up, it’s like they’re sectioned off. So we have to climb over these gold railings.

Olivia Beavers: As I’m climbing over one railing, this police officer yelled at us to take cover and duck.

Sarah Ferris: The chamber below us was now virtually empty. The remaining members and press were now lumped together in the upper gallery.

Melanie Zanona: There were members who were calling their loved ones. It was just a very scary few minutes there.

Sarah Ferris: Beside us, I heard a loud, desperate prayer from Congresswoman Lisa Blunt Rochester. She gripped hands with Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, who was nearly sprawled onto the floor between two seats, and Congresswoman Val Demings, who sat on the other side.

Melanie Zanona: And so police officers put a big wooden credenza in front of the door and created a barricade and they drew their guns. And we heard just like bang, bang, bang on the doors. We didn’t know what it was at that point.

Sarah Ferris: We heard bangs on the main chamber floor outside, then what sounded like gunshots.

Olivia Beavers: My hands were starting to shake. I reached for my backpack. I wanted something for an extra barrier on my back or stomach in case shots were fired.

Welcome back to Women Rule at this end of this stressful, strange, shocking week. Thanks to Maya Parthasarathy, who curates the “reads” section. Subscribe here

THE AFTERMATH -- “Pelosi calls for Trump’s immediate ouster after deadly riots,” by Sarah Ferris, Melanie Zanona and Heather Caygle POLITICO … “Woman Killed in Capitol Embraced Trump and QAnon” via NYT

HILL SPOTLIGHT -- “Elizabeth Warren’s next chapter,” by Burgess Everett: “Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez wants Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer replaced, lamenting that there’s no one ready to step in. Elizabeth Warren has a different approach. The Massachusetts Democrat is a member of Schumer’s leadership team and is working closely with the Senate minority leader on a policy priority that could fuel the first intra-party fight with President-elect Joe Biden,” cancelling student loans.

“Recruiting Schumer on student loans shows how Warren will use her sway in Democrats’ impending internal debates as a centrist Biden confronts a narrowly divided Congress. Unlike some liberals, Warren also plays the inside game to shape policy — and picks her spots carefully.” POLITICO

-- PHOTO ESSAY: “‘Badasses in Their Own Right’: Meet the Freshwomen of Congress” POLITICO

MONEY NEWS -- “Women are donating to campaigns in record numbers. The Georgia runoffs are no exception,” by Chelsea Cirruzzo: “Women didn’t just run for office andwin seats in record numbers in 2020. They also donated to political campaigns in record numbers. That’s according tonew research by the Center for Responsive Politics and the National Institute on Money in Politics, published onOpenSecrets.org. ...

“[The analysis] found that in the 2020 races for both the U.S. House and Senate, female candidates outraised men on average, and nearly closed the gap in state-level contests. Additionally, women accounted for 33 percent of donations to congressional campaigns,” up from 28 percent in 2016.

“[Grace Haley, gender and race researcher at the Center for Responsive Politics and the lead researcher behind the analysis] says much of these gains for female donors were driven by Democratic women, particularly wealthy Democratic women, supporting Democratic candidates, in line with a rush of political participation following the election of Donald Trump in 2016. Republican women also increased donations, Haley says, although it was nowhere near the levels of Democratic women.” The Lily

TRANSITION 2020 -- “[Gina] Raimondo selected for Biden’s Commerce secretary” and Isabel Guzman will lead the Small Business Administration, via POLITICO … Lisa Monaco will be Biden’s deputy attorney general … “Kathleen Hicks is Biden’s pick to be first female deputy Defense secretary,” via POLITICO … “Anne Neuberger … will be named deputy national security adviser for cybersecurity,” via POLITICO ... “‘Break up the groupthink’: Democrats press Biden to diversify his tech picks,” via POLITICO

WHAT RULERS ARE READING

AROUND THE WORLD -- “Germany Moves Toward Requiring Women On Large Companies’ Executive Boards,” via NPR ... “How Beauty-Boosting Shots Made Two Women Billionaires,” via Bloomberg ... “This female boxer in Uganda is inspiring young women to fight for themselves,” via CNN

PERSPECTIVE -- “Meghan McCain learned about the need for maternity leave the hard way. Nobody should have to,” by Monica Hesse: “On Monday, McCain, a new mother, returned to her co-hosting slot on ‘The View’ for the first time since giving birth last fall. She’d planned to come back before the election, she explained, but unexpected medical complications ‘kicked my butt’ and doubled her time out of the office. The extension prompted a lightbulb moment: ‘As I thought about it, the more angry I got that there weren’t women in the rest of America that had the same kind of luxury that I had,’ she said. ‘It takes personal experience sometimes to get on board.’ ...

“Meghan McCain is one thousand percent right. What I’m most interested in is how she got there. Or rather, why it took her so long to get there. Or rather, how we can speed up this process so that it doesn’t require every leave-denier to personally birth a child before they also get on board. …

“Personal experiences can be powerful and life-altering. But the trouble with policies guided by the personal struggles of famous TV personalities is that they are not based on what average citizens need or what experts determine is optimal. They are based on the solipsism of influential people who are scandalized only by injustices that they experience personally.” WaPo

-- “As a pregnant OB/GYN, I’m acutely aware of Covid-19’s risks. That’s why I’m taking the vaccine,” by Alice Abernathy The Lily

WOMEN AT WORK -- “‘It’s never too late’: The entrepreneurial spirit of older women,” by Mariel Padilla: “Mary Rawles worked full-time as a school teacher while raising two children but noticed over the years as her kids got ‘fitter and smarter,’ she gained more and more weight. She transformed her personal health in her 50s, retired in her 60s and, now, in the midst of a pandemic that has disproportionately isolated older adults, the 73-year-old has launched her first business: online workout classes and weight loss support. ‘I wanted to offer the same to other women,’ said Rawles, who is based in the Bay Area. ‘You can still change; it’s never too late.’

“Rawles said she has long had entrepreneurial aspirations, but she didn’t have the confidence or foresight to pursue them. ‘I used to think of aging as a period of decline,’ Rawles said. ‘For me, so far, the 70s are the most exciting decade I’ve lived. I have more time because I’m not raising kids and I’m retired, so I have a little bit of economic security. Because of that, it’s a time where I can really grow.’

“Over the past several years, the number of women-owned businesses climbed to nearly 13 million — 42 percent of all U.S. businesses — and grew at double the rate of all U.S. businesses, according to the 2019 State of Women-Owned Business Report, which is based on U.S. census data. And researchers found an increase in entrepreneurial activity among older people in the United Kingdom, specifically. When asked why they wanted to set up a business later in life, twice as many women than men said they wanted to realize ‘a long-held ambition,’ according to the report, published in 2020.” The 19th

-- “Ellen Pao explains why she never felt imposter syndrome as Reddit CEO: ‘I’ve seen so many horrible male CEOs,’” via CNBC

IN MEMORIAM -- POLITICO Magazine’s end-of-year obituary package remembers a host of women who, in their time, changed U.S. politics, including RBG, Roberta McCain, Alice Mayhew, Linda Tripp, Katherine Johnson, Gail Sheehy and Olivia de Havilland. See the whole package

LONGREAD -- “The Memory War,” by Katie Heaney: “Jennifer has never publicly described what she says her father did to her; she sees no benefit in recounting the details. If pressed to give it a name, she says he molested her. In her earliest memory of it, she recognizes the bathroom in the house where the family lived when she was 3 years old; in her latest, she is a teenager, meaning the abuse would have spanned at least a decade. The memories didn’t arrive all at once but were staggered, resurfacing with special intensity after her parents came for their visit. ...

“How should a parent respond to allegations of decades-earlier abuse from an adult child? If you believe yourself — or your spouse — to be innocent, how should you sound on the phone? What should you do in the days and weeks after a bombshell like that? You might believe your child, or you might not. You could try to support her either way. You could cut her out of your life.

“Pam and Peter Freyd retaliated. In the wake of Jennifer’s disclosure, they formed an organization called the False Memory Syndrome Foundation. Through the nonprofit’s work, they popularized a term — false memory — that became one of the most effective tools to instill doubt not only about allegations of child sex abuse but in all forms of sexual violence. Between 1992, when the foundation was launched, and December 2019, when it abruptly shuttered, it bolstered the defense strategy employed by countless sex offenders, from Michael Jackson to Bill Cosby and Harvey Weinstein. Today, the notion that one’s own memories of sexual violence are unreliable is owed, in large part, to how the Freyds responded to their daughter.” The Cut

IN CULTURE -- “Carey Mulligan Won’t Let Hollywood Off the Hook,” via The New York Times ... “Torrey Peters Goes There,” via Vulture ... “Suzi Analogue Wants Black Women in Experimental Music to Never Compromise,” via The New York Times

IN SPORTS -- “Six women set to make history as coaches in NFL playoffs,” via NFL.com ... “Becky Hammon’s shot at coaching raises question, when will NBA hire a woman as head coach?” via USA Today ... “Red Sox hire Bianca Smith for minor league team, first Black woman to coach in pro baseball,” via NBC News

VIDEO -- Pelosi calls on Pence to invoke 25th amendment

WOMEN RULERS

TRANSITIONS -- Crystal Brown is the new chief communications officer at the National Geographic Society. She was previously executive vice president of Hager Sharp’s education, labor and economy practice. She also served as chief communications officer at both Howard University and University of Maryland.

WISDOM OF THE WEEK – Victoria Palacio, State Advocacy Coordinator, Legal Action Center and Women in Government 2020 Excellence in Advocacy Up and Comer of the Year: “I regularly remind myself and the other young professionals I know that we are all running our own race. It is important to avoid the self-imposed timelines that we create, as well as the trap of comparing ourselves to others. Some of us may take longer to get to our destination, while others will take necessary detours on our path to success. However, the only thing that matters in the end, is what you were able to learn on that journey, and that you were able to apply those lessons to your ultimate success.”Connect with Victoria here.