Tag: Donald Trump

On day two of the case deciding whether to kick Donald trump off of the Colorado ballot, the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington’s (CREW) legal team brought their star witness to the stand – sociologist and witness-for-hire Dr. Peter Simi. An associate professor at Chapman University, Simi is a purported expert on extremist groups and political violence – boasting an over 20-year career studying the subjects.

When he’s not in the classroom – or living amongst Neo Nazis for research – Simi moonlights as a paid witness in cases that involve instances of ‘right-wing extremism’ and is a go-to quote for several corporate media outlets. According to Simi himself, he is being paid $35,000 for his testimony – and has a rate of $300 an hour as an “expert”. Simi was previously a paid witness for the Unite the Right trial over the death of Heather Heyer at the hands of white supremacist James Fields.

Testimony from Prof. Simi dominated the second day of the Colorado Trump ballot case, as the CREW-backed legal team guided the sociologist though almost three hours of testimony before cross-examination. According to Simi, former President Donald Trump had formed a political bond with right-wing extremists from the very start of his entry into politics as he “spoke their language” and wasn’t afraid to support “conspiracy theories” such as “birtherism” – the idea that Barack Obama was born outside of America and was therefore ineligible to become President. Simi also claimed that invoking the year 1776 or displaying the Betsy Ross Flag could indicate an individual is affiliated with right-wing extremism.

During his testimony, Simi insinuated that Republican politicians – not Democrats however – who reference stolen elections or corrupt elections were sending signals to extremist groups to engage in political violence. The Chapman professor also insisted that Trump’s condemnation of the violence during the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia was in fact an example of “double speak”, wherein Trump actually signaled support for extremists and they understood his need for creating “plausible deniability”.

Under cross examination from Scott Gessler – a member of former President Trump’s legal team – Simi’s testimony was exposed as being more conjecture and opinion than fact. Earlier in the day, Simi asserted that Trump driving his motorcade by the Million MAGA March was a signal to extremists in attendance to engage in violence. When pressed by Gessler, he admitted he was in fact not present for the march, and despite claiming that documents showed it was “Proud Boys” who instigated violence against Antifa, Simi had not included such documents in his expert report to the court.

Gessler honed in on Simi’s use of terms like “double speak”, humorously comparing the idea to the “So you’re telling me there’s a chance” scene from the popular comedy movie Dumb and Dumber where Jim Carrey’s character is unable to take the hint that his love interest isn’t all that in to him. Gessler repeatedly illustrated how Simi appeared to engineer desired conclusions through the selective use of data. Ultimately, the Chapman professor admitted he had no material evidence that Trump intended or proactively called for political violence in his speeches and rallies.