There is overwhelming evidence that on Jan. 6, 2021, Donald Trump broke the law and violated the oath he swore when he became president of the United States. In the face of such overwhelming evidence, there is little room for debate. The only question remaining is whether he’ll be held accountable.
When Congress had the opportunity to create accountability during the second impeachment hearing, most Republicans stood on the side of MAGA mayhem because it benefited them personally and politically. They ignored their oaths too, becoming active co-conspirators in the greatest threat to American democracy since the Civil War.
With Trump no longer in the Oval Office and the House Select Committee Investigating the Jan. 6 Attack on the Capitol recommending charges against Trump, the Justice Department has the opportunity to hold the traitor president accountable.
For the sake of American democracy, we hope Justice doesn’t fail.
In its final public meeting Monday, the Jan. 6 committee recommended that the Trump be prosecuted on charges of 1) conspiracy to make a false statement, 2) conspiracy to defraud the United States, 3) obstruction of an official proceeding, and 4) inciting an insurrection. The committee also referred ethics violations against House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy and three other congressional Republicans for their parts in the insurrection and aftermath.
All of these charges have been proven beyond any possible doubt, reasonable or otherwise. The Justice Department now has a mountain of evidence against Trump.
Dozens of Trump’s own Cabinet members, advisers, party members and even family members told him that he lost the 2020 election. And more than 60 judges — including some appointed by him — dismissed his claims of widespread voter fraud. He cannot reasonably claim to believe he won.
Yet Trump and his flying monkeys spent months after the election intentionally and persistently spreading lies and conspiracy theories about election fraud. He filed frivolous lawsuits that contain blatant lies. When judges and state election officials refused to validate his lies, he tried to bring others into the conspiracy, including Vice President Mike Pence, acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen, the Justice Department, state legislators and election officials. Anyone who refused Trump, such as Georgia election workers and officials, became the target of his cries for vengeance and had their lives threatened by his unhinged followers.
Fortunately, most of them (though not all – e.g., Nevada Lt. Gov.-elect Stavros Anthony) refused to go along with his plot. So Trump, as president, called upon the people of the United States to rise up, preying on their sense of patriotism and duty by lying to them about a plot to steal the election. In reality, Trump tried to steal the election for himself.
Participants in the insurrection — all of whom previously stated their support for Trump — made statements directly tying the president’s lies to their deadly assault on the Capitol and failed effort to stop the election from being certified.
“I was in Washington, D.C. on Jan. 6, 2021, because I believed I was following the instructions of former President Trump, and he was my president and the commander-in-chief. His statements also had me believing the election was stolen from him,” said Garrett Miller, who brought a gun with him to the Capitol.
Ronald Sandlin, who threatened to kill Capitol Police officers, said he was going to the Capitol to “show support for our president and to do my part to stop the steal. ... If you are a patriot, I believe it’s your duty to be there. I see it as my civic responsibility.”
John Douglas Wright said that “(Trump) called me there, and he laid out what is happening in our government.”
And Lewis Cantwell testified in court that “the president of the United States … (is) out on TV telling the world that it was stolen, what else would I believe?”
In other words, Trump’s intentional lies and plot to overturn the outcome of a democratic election led an armed mob of violent extremists to attack the Capitol building and created the circumstances that resulted in the deaths of multiple police officers.
As if all of this wasn’t bad enough, Trump and his Republican puppets continue to ignore the rule of law even today.
The House select committee is an official committee of Congress, authorized by the Constitution and Supreme Court. It doesn’t matter if Trump or McCarthy “believe” the committee is motivated by politics. If subpoenaed, the law requires them to appear before the committee and testify. Their refusal to do so reveals their contempt for law and order and their fear that they will accidentally tell the truth and incriminate themselves.
Meanwhile, junior staffers, Capitol police officers and local election officials bravely testified — risking their livelihoods in the pursuit of justice. If the Justice Department fails to deliver at least some accountability, then their sacrifice will be in vain.
Our children — who watched all of this play out in front of their impressionable eyes — will learn that the lying is good, crime pays and personal responsibility is unimportant.
Moreover, the great American experiment will have proven a failure. Lying, violent, treasonous criminals will know that as long they seek shelter in Congress or the White House, they can commit whatever crimes they like — even attempting to overthrow the U.S. government — without legal consequences.
And they won’t go away, they won’t slink back under their extremist manure piles. Instead, they will continue to seek power and pull every accessible lever to cheat.
People talk about the “rule of law” as if it’s a force of nature that exists by magic. It does not. The rule of law requires constant maintenance and vigilance for it to remain intact to protect us all. The Justice Department and Attorney General Merrick Garland have a sacred responsibility in this regard. If they allow these hideous crimes to go unprosecuted, it will contribute to the withering of the rule of law in this nation. The very laws each member of the department has sworn to protect will be trampled by inaction. The very same laws that bind us as Americans to our Constitution.