Democrats should be careful what they wish for.

In a nakedly political move ahead of midterms, the January 6 Committee announced, on a 9-0 vote, that they'd subpoena President Trump for testimony on the January 6 riots.  Although they insist that their intentions are pure and the only thing they have in mind is "protecting democracy," they'd like to pin the title of chief coup-plotter for that crowd-control incident on the former president, and seek to set up the basis for prosecution, if not a prohibition for the former president to run for office again.  Everyone knows that, which is why so few are bothering to pay attention to the crapulent hearings.  Nobody watches a movie where the ending is already known.

But something is up now: they've stirred a sleeping tiger.

According to Fox News:

EXCLUSIVE: Former President Donald Trump "loves the idea of testifying" before the House select committee investigating January 6th, a source close to Trump told Fox News Digital just after the panel unanimously voted to subpoena him.

The source said that if Trump complied with the subpoena and testified, he would "talk about how corrupt the election was, how corrupt the committee was, and how Nancy Pelosi did not call up the National Guard that Trump strongly recommended for her to do three days earlier on January 3, 2021."

The source told Fox News Digital that it is unclear at this point if Trump actually will testify before the committee, but stressed that Trump "loves the idea."

This could actually make those hearings watchable, although they know that and would probably keep the hearings behind closed doors precisely for this reason.

Three things could happen with this kangaroo court show, and none of them is good for Democrats.

One, a Trump appearance would attract a huge audience, given the popularity of Trump and the prospects ahead that he may well run for office.  For Liz Cheney, who was thrown out of office by her own constituents for this, the taste would be especially bitter.

Two, Trump would be a powerful voice for refuting the nonsense that Republicans attempted a coup d'état on January 6, and the complicity of FBI provocateurs, the failure of the Capitol Police to secure the Capitol premises, the refusal of House speaker Nancy Pelosi to allow the National Guard to guard the premises as President Trump had offered, and the sheer illegality of the commission itself with its handpicked-by-Pelosi members would all be laid out even as the committee tries to narrowly pin the riots on Trump.  They may succeed in holding the hearings behind closed doors, but Trump would be out soon enough to tell the public all about what he said, and in any case, there would be leaks and hidden cell phone footage, given the public interest.  At long last, Trump would be able to defend himself, he'd do it particularly ably, there'd be laughs and one-liners, and the committee would come out looking like sour-face bozos in a clown car.  He'd eat them alive.

Three, a precedent would be set: all former presidents would be compelled to answer to congressional subpoenas, which would create interesting times for obvious coup-plotters such as Barack Obama, obvious corrupt pols such as Joe Biden, and obvious crooks such as Bill Clinton.  If Trump goes, they all have to go, and a Republican-led Congress could make this pretty miserable for them.  The Trump-haters on the January 6 Committee never seem to think these things through.

In their desperation, they think they can at long last Get Trump with this obvious power-grab, which disrespects the separation of powers in the Constitution and makes America subject to the Legislature alone.  If Trump testifies as they wish, they will be in for a surprise.

Image: Pixabay, Pixabay License.