January 6 Public Hearings

That's because Governors can authorise the depolyment of the Nation Guard in their states under certain conditions, and the President cannot deploy the National Guard in states unless they invoke the Insurrection Act. However only the President has the authority to order the National Guard in Washington D.C, as Washington D.C is a federal asset under the control of the President at all times. Washington D.C is not a state nor is it part of one. The National Guard may also have been deployed through joint agreement of the Capitol Security, including the Congress Sergeant at Arms, the Senate Sergeant at Arms, and others. Both Pelosi and Mitch McConnell requested that they call in the National Guard.

You're so very, very bad at this.

Add in Mick Mulvaney, Trump's former Chief Of Staff (before Jan 6th, he left around the start of Covid).

NBC appear to be pushing the idea that FOX News is at least somewhat breaking with Trump and getting in behind Ron Desantis. Between that and the fact that an increasing number of Trump cronies appear to be cooperating with the investigation, Trump has to feel like the walls are closing in on him a bit.

However, animals tend to be at their most dangerous when cornered. What would Trump do if he got desperate enough?

Quite a bit. According to the expert NBC had on, around a 3rd of Republican voters are 'the base' and their hearts belong to Trump and that share is still enough to win a primary. If Trump feels like he's being left to swing, he'll have no hesitance to pull the ripcord and turn them on the party if necessarily.

That's not to mention going all in on riling up all the militia/paramilitary outfits who've emerged in the last few years.

In short, if Trump feels like he's going down, he's going to try and make the process as unpleasant for everyone else as possible.

Interesting, if true re:Murdoch, but I don't understand why Murdoch would choose now as the point to withdraw support from Trump when you consider how toxic Trump has been for the last 6 years. Makes me wonder if Murdoch senses possible implication in the events of Jan. 6th or maybe wants to do something relatively wholesome before shuffling off this mortal coil.

Anyway, good news if true. Would expect Trump to be angrily texting FOX News anchors demanding an explanation for this apparently sudden change in focus towards Ron DeSantis. Would the more extreme news channels that have popped up see a bump in ratings as Trump directs has base to watch those instead, and if yes, will FOX News have a change of heart if they see ratings decline?

It'll be interesting to see if this attempt at distancing from Trump will work. I don't think your standard MAGA hat is going to be too swayed by a withering article in the NY Post, though, as their radicalisation has largely been driven through alternative media channels, i.e. Facebook and Twitter. For a true distancing from Trump to happen, he has to lose a lot of grassroots support. I'm not talking about some Lincoln Project Republicans being against him, but large swathes of the base have to flip.