After supporters of President Trump stormed the Capitol on Wednesday, several White House staffers worried that they were unwitting participants in a coup, Vanity Fair's Gabriel Sherman reports.
The mob was incited by Trump, who wants to overturn the results of the presidential election. One staffer told a friend that White House Counsel Pat Cipollone was warning officials to stay away from Trump, so they wouldn't appear to be assisting or enabling his actions, Sherman reports. By steering clear of the president, "they could reduce the chance they could be prosecuted for treason under the Sedition Act," he explained.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Trump's federal return-to-office mandate descends into chaosIn the Spotlight Was the administration unprepared, or was it a tactic to drive employees to quit?
-
Music review: Japanese Breakfast, Selena Gomez and Benny Blanco, and Steve ReichFeature "For Melancholy Brunettes (& Sad Women)," "I Said I Love You First," "Collected Works"
-
Smithsonian under fire: Trump orders an ideological purgeReview The president has issued an executive order to control Smithsonian exhibits and restore removed statues linked to slavery
-
South Korea court removes impeached presidentSpeed Read The Constitutional Court upheld the impeachment of Yoon Suk Yeol after his declaration of martial law in December
-
Myanmar quake deaths rise as survivor search intensifiesspeed read The magnitude-7.7 earthquake in central Myanmar has killed a documented 2,000 people so far, and left scores more trapped beneath rubble
-
'Like a sound from hell': Serbia and sonic weaponsThe Explainer Half a million people sign petition alleging Serbian police used an illegal 'sound cannon' to disrupt anti-government protests
-
Israel detains director after West Bank settler clashspeed read The director of Oscar-winning documentary 'No Other Land' was arrested and beaten
-
Turkey arrests Istanbul mayor, a top Erdogan rivalSpeed Read Protests erupted in Turkey after authorities detained Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu
-
Israel strikes Gaza, breaking ceasefireSpeed Read 326 Palestinians were killed in the first major attack since Netanyahu's government signed a ceasefire agreement with Hamas
-
The arrest of the Philippines' former president leaves the country's drug war in disarrayIn the Spotlight Rodrigo Duterte was arrested by the ICC earlier this month
-
Houthis vow retaliation amid US airstrikesSpeed Read Trump promises the US will use 'overwhelming lethal force' against the Houthis until they stop attacking Red Sea ships
