Attorney General Garland must abide by his oath and indict Trump
The bipartisan congressional commission investigating the January 6 coup attempt has found strong evidence that Donald Trump is a criminal. As the hearings reveal, the former president illegally plotted to stay in office after the American people voted to boot him out.
Now
he must be indicted.
Trump’s
criminality is proven not by the words of his enemies, but by the sworn
testimony of Republicans he himself appointed or hired —including his own
officials and staff, his attorney general William Barr, and Republican election
lawyers and campaign personnel.
The
evidence indicates Trump committed three major felonies.
First,
he corruptly tried to obstruct a joint session of Congress.
The
Twelfth Amendment requires a joint session to count the votes and certify the
election of the president. When Trump tried to get Vice President Mike Pence to
illegally throw out some states’ electoral votes, he was attempting to obstruct
the proceedings.
Trump’s
purpose was corrupt. He had no honest basis for thinking the election was
stolen, because every fraud claim had already been investigated and rejected by
his own supporters — including Barr, White House staff, and GOP election
officials in Georgia, Arizona, and other states.
At least 86 judges,
including Trump appointees, rejected every one of his election
challenges.
Second,
Trump incited a riot. He gave an inflammatory speech urging extremists to “show
strength and fight like hell” and unleashed his horde on the Capitol, where
they threatened to kill or hold hostage those Trump deemed enemies.
Trump’s gang understood his speech as “presidential orders,” as one rioter told prosecutors.
Even
after the mayhem, Trump expressed gratitude to
his mob. “I know your pain,” he told those who had brutalized the Capitol
police and wanted to kill Mike Pence and Nancy Pelosi. “We love you. You’re
very special.”
Both Senate GOP Leader Mitch
McConnell and House GOP leader Kevin
McCarthy agreed that Trump provoked the riot.
Third,
Trump attempted election fraud. In a recorded call,
Trump demanded Georgia’s secretary of state generate thousands of non-existent
pro-Trump ballots. “I just want to find 11,780 votes,” Trump told him.
These
are serious crimes — and the peril is growing.
Although
Republican leaders McConnell and McCarthy both condemned Trump’s baseless
claims, most House Republicans ignored the facts and voted against certifying
Biden’s victory.
By
now, two-thirds of
rank-and-file Republicans believe Trump’s big lie, and many
Republicans running for office proclaim they wouldn’t have certified Biden’s
victories.
If
Trump invents new phony “fraud” claims in 2024, these Republicans could
overturn the result if someone else wins. Some of them also want to let
gerrymandered state legislatures grab the
power to award a state’s electoral votes away from voters.
Today’s
GOP balks at a peaceful transfer of when they lose, risking more political
violence. The big lie prompted a flood of violent threats against
ordinary election workers and their families, as the January 6 committee heard.
Simply counting votes is “treason” to Trump.
Thirty
percent of Republicans now tell pollsters they approve of using violence.
A quarter consider the attack on the Capitol
justified. Meanwhile, the Republican National Committee contends the
insurrectionists are being “persecuted” for “legitimate political
discourse.”
Nearly 800 rioters have
been charged with crimes, but not Trump. He proposes, if
elected in 2024, to pardon them.
Will
Trump finally be indicted?
The
answer rests with Attorney General Merrick Garland, who swore an oath to
“support and defend the Constitution against all enemies.” But Garland has been
reluctant to confront Trump.
Garland
needs to follow the evi dence and honor his oath. If the chief insurrectionist
is never charged, the message is plain: presidents are above the law and
political violence is acceptable in America.
If the Constitution is to prevail — and if we are to avoid violence — Trump cannot enjoy impunity. The rule of law must be brought to bear and he must be indicted and tried.
Mitchell
Zimmerman is an attorney, longtime social activist, and author of
the anti-racism thriller Mississippi Reckoning. This op-ed was distributed by OtherWords.org.Read Progressive Charlestown's review of Mississippi Reckoning HERE.