David Frum, The Atlantic: “The effort to exonerate Russia for helping Trump in 2016 will continue, and possibly accelerate with Trump out of office. With Trump and the pro-Trump media, it’s never enough to prove the truth once. The truth needs to be as persistent as the lie. Even now, Trump defenders continue to describe the proven fact of Russian assistance as a ‘hoax,’ and the guilty pleas of Trump associates as them being ‘framed.’ The imperative to defend reality against Trumpism will not cease with the Trump presidency. And so it will be with all the other mythological elements of the Trump dreamworld. They will continue to propagate in ways that poison the American mindscape. The massive corruption of the Trump family will be obscured by false accusations against everybody else – a job of obfuscation that Trump allies may find easier once the Trump family is no longer subject to any kind of official disclosure requirements.”

“Trump attempted to pervert the 2020 election by sabotaging mail-in voting – so essential amid a pandemic. When that failed, Trump tried to overturn the outcome of the election in courts he had staffed for that very purpose. When the courts balked, Trump demanded that Republican state legislators discard the wishes of their voters. When the legislators refused, he turned to plots for a military coup to seize voting records. The pardons are the next phase – and one more reminder that simply turning the page on Trumpism will not be possible. The challenge to democratic values and institutions from Trump and his supporters is a page that will not turn. It will have to be read and reread in detail until it is fully understood, so as to be fully defeated.”