On January 6, the committee refers Donald Trump on four charges to the Department of Justice
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Editor’s note: Jill Filipovic is a journalist based in New York and author of the book “OK Boomer, Let’s Talk: How My Generation Got Left Behind.” Follow her on Twitter @JillFilipovic. The opinions expressed in this comment are her own. See more opinions on CNN.
After more than a year of digging through evidence to understand what happened on one of the darkest days in American history, the January 6 Committee has released its findings: Former President Donald Trump aided in an insurgency and should face multiple charges crimes.
This conclusion is extraordinary, unprecedented and absolutely necessary exactly two years after Trump sent a late-night tweet to his supporters about coming to Washington, D.C., on January 6, 2021, promising it “will be wild!”
The question is, however, what the Ministry of Justice will do, and what the consequences of that decision may be. Impeaching Trump would be incredibly controversial and would no doubt enrage many. And there is also a risk of fueling the perception that Democrats are using the DOJ to go after political opponents. If it were just a matter of partisan revenge, such a prosecution would be nasty and nasty.
But the committee’s findings are about a shocking attack on American democracy, one that the nation had not fully anticipated. How strong are our democratic institutions if those who attempt to subvert them can simply walk away without being held accountable? Can a democracy thrive if attempts to overthrow it are simply washed away?
On January 6, the committee recommended that Justice Department prosecutors proceed with four criminal charges: aiding or abetting an insurrection, conspiring to defraud the United States, conspiring to make false statements, and obstructing an official proceeding in Congress. The final report, to be released Wednesday, will provide grounds for recommending charges, but a referral does not require the Justice Department to act.
These are serious allegations, but the committee has spent months interviewing witnesses, assessing the evidence and putting together a full and coherent story of what led to the riot on 6 January, what happened that day and what unfolded afterwards.
That story is damning. Witnesses testified that Trump knew the Jan. 6 protest over the 2020 election had spiraled out of control into violent chaos and was told repeatedly to tell protesters to leave. He did not do so for several hours, even as he watched the carnage on television, according to the panel.
Evidence showed that Trump was told multiple times that there was no evidence of voter fraud. Still, he continued to claim the election was stolen — collecting $250 million from his fans on those false claims, according to the committee.
Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming laid out the weight of what happened that day. The United States has been a great democratic experiment, and since George Washington handed over the presidency to John Adams, the American tradition of the peaceful transfer of power has been an integral part of our nation’s stability and well-being.
In America’s proud democratic history, no president has ever done what Trump did: try to get into office by contesting the results of a free and fair election, Cheney said.
That so many Americans fell for the lie that the election was stolen and were willing to engage in acts of violence to promote it is a national shame, and it’s unclear how to solve this problem – all the facts in the world don’t seem to to sway people who are deeply committed to their own conclusions.
That a former president would encourage his followers to undermine American democracy and break our national tradition of a peaceful surrender is something for which there are political and legal solutions.
Should the Department of Justice proceed with criminal charges, it would lead to an avalanche. Trump supporters, and the former president himself, will be terrified.
It seems a foregone conclusion that they will claim that the charges are politicized and fabricated, expressed because Trump is a threat to the “swamp” and the “deep state” and that Democrats fear him so much they are willing to shut him down. use all necessary means. An indictment would be hugely divisive in an already divided nation.
In the most basic sense, I don’t want Trump to be impeached. It is not good for a nation to try and potentially imprison its former leaders, even unpopular ones. There is also a risk that charging Trump with crimes will create a cycle of recriminations and revenge from Republicans.
But it is worse to allow a former leader to destroy the nation’s confidence in elections and its democratic processes. If there is no punishment, what will prevent others from doing the same in the future?
There is no evidence that Trump regrets his actions. He continues to spread the lie that the 2020 election was stolen, and even before the 2022 midterms, he planned to replay the election fraud claim if his favorite candidates lost. He is running for president again, and if he wins, he can use his power to destroy American democracy as we know it.
In the age of Trump, parts of the Republican Party have been hollowed out for conspiracy theorists, racists, anti-Semites, liars, religious extremists and followers of the MAGA cult.
The GOP has become so intellectually bankrupt that it didn‘t even bother with a platform in the last presidential election, instead saying its policy positions are what Trump wants. Some Republican politicians and voters seem to be fine with an America run by a despot, as long as it’s their guy.
What is the January 6th Committee trying to accomplish?
| But other Republicans understand the monster they’ve created and don’t like where this horror story is going. They should demand that the American justice system do its job. | |
|---|---|
| There is no perfect playbook for how to handle such a situation. But nations that have undergone great trauma need truth and reconciliation. They don’t move on and forget what happened. | The January 6 committee’s findings, and its referral to the Justice Department, are the first step. Taking the case to another vaunted American institution—our legal system, where defendants are presumed innocent and prosecutors must build a case for guilt beyond a reasonable doubt—is the necessary next. |
| Selected selection | Seats |
| 9 | |
| Political parties | Majority (7) Democratic (7) Minority (2) Republican (2) |
Jurisdiction
- Purpose
- To investigate the attack on the US capitol on January 6, 2021
- Who are the people on the 6 January committee? Majority committee members
- Zoe Lofgren. – 19.
- Adam Schiff. – 28.
- Pete Aguilar. – 31.
What is the point of the Jan 6 committee?
Stephanie Murphy. – 07.
How many jan 6 rioters are still in jail?
Jamie Raskin. – 08.
Elaine Luria. – 02.
How long do you go to jail for Capitol rioters?
The United States House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6 Attack on the United States Capitol (the January 6 Committee) is a bipartisan select committee of the United States House of Representatives established to investigate the January 6 attack on the United States Capitol by a amount of supporters. On the same subject : Trump real estate appraiser submits documents in New York civil investigation. of then-…
Who is Mark Ponder?
So far, approximately 165 of the 800 cases filed as a result of the January 6 attack have been completely dismissed, with a total of 65 defendants being sentenced to either prison or prison terms. On the same subject : The Jan. 6 hearings brought politics into the TikTok age. A further 50 have been sentenced to house arrest.
What is the longest sentence ever issued?
How many arrests in January 6? Arrests Made: More than 725 defendants have been arrested in nearly all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Read also : How will we know if the United States is in recession?.
What time did the Jan 6 Capitol riot start?
6-related sentencing. A federal judge on Monday sentenced the first Capitol insurgent to be sentenced at trial to 87 months, or just over seven years, in prison – the longest prison term so far for a defendant in the Justice Department’s January criminal investigation.
How long do you go to jail for Capitol rioters?
Man who assaulted police at the US Capitol sentenced to five years in prison. A frame taken from an MPD officer’s body-worn camera shows Mark Ponder armed with a long pole with red, white and blue stripes.
