# The Former Guy By:: [[Ross Jackson]] 2023-08-03 Former President Donald J. Trump’s third and most recent federal indictment provides insight into power and organizations. The focus here is how individuals responded to Trump’s attention on overturning the election results due to his claim of widespread voter fraud. After Trump lost his attempt for reelection, he pursued a path to show that the election results were not legitimate and that he won the election. There is nothing wrong with being suspicious and critical of events and researching whether there is a legitimate basis for concern and action. The issue here is how information was presented and consumed. This is a decision to either speak truth to power or to tell the boss what the boss wants to hear. Ultimately, there is no middle ground between these two paths. After thoroughly reviewing the evidence, Attorney General William P. Barr described Trump’s voter fraud claims as “bullshit.” In the last weeks of the Trump administration, General Barr was removed from his position and replaced with someone more willing to tell Trump what he wanted to hear. There were several key people during this time who spoke truth to power. Vice President Pence is probably the best example. American citizens pursued Pence for his integrity by chanting, “Hang Mike Pence.” The people willing to speak truth to power may have saved our American democracy, assuming it doesn’t soon collapse. Others were willing to “get with the program” and tell Trump what he wanted to hear. Some of those key individuals are now known as his co-conspirators. It’s important to note that things would have been different for all these individuals had Trump been able to thwart democratic rule and maintain power through his attempted coup. Will one speak truth to power or conform to what is desired? The answer to this question is consequential. Analysts make this decision daily. #### Related Items [[Power]] [[Organization]] [[American]] [[Truth]] [[Analytics]] [[Democracy]]