WASHINGTON — Donald Trump’s political career appeared to be over after his supporters attacked the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.
Both Democrats and Republicans accused Trump of inciting the attack, and he only escaped conviction in a Senate impeachment trial because Republican senators argued it was too late to convict a president who had already left office.
Moreover, then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) argued that Trump would face another kind of judgment.
“We have a criminal justice system in this country. We are in the process of filing a civil lawsuit. And former presidents are not exempt from responsibility on either side,” McConnell said.
That never happened, and many Democrats are ready to place the blame on one person: Attorney General Merrick Garland. They argue that he waited too long to appoint a special prosecutor, which allowed Trump and his defense team to delay the case until Trump was elected to a second presidency. Garland said she did so because Trump had made it official that he would run for president in November 2022.
The announcement also follows a series of high-profile public hearings by bipartisan House committees airing evidence against the former president.
“Garland only commenced prosecution after the committee’s report and criminal referral forced him to indict on January 6.” Former House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., told HuffPost. “The evidence used by the committee on January 6 was available from the beginning.”
“If they had gone forward with the prosecution, he would have been convicted and we would now have a different president,” Nadler said. “Merrick Garland wasted a year.”
Nadler is not the only one who thinks so. washington post Reports last month said President Joe Biden expressed regret over choosing Garland, believing the nation’s top law enforcement officer took too long to pursue Trump after Jan. 6.
Reps. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) and Joe Lofgren (D-Calif.), members of the Jan. 6 committee, also told HuffPost that they believe Garland waited too long.
“I didn’t realize they weren’t looking at the whole picture,” Lofgren said. “I think they were looking at the infantry.”
The Justice Department charged Trump with other crimes related to the mob attack on the Capitol and the attempt to overturn the 2020 election, but not long after Republicans purged most lawmakers who spoke out against Trump in August 2023. It was not until this time that the indictment was filed.
Supreme Court rulings related to presidential immunity caused additional delays, and Trump ultimately won the 2024 election before the case was concluded and could go to trial. Because the Justice Department’s policy has long prohibited the prosecution of sitting presidents, the Justice Department dismissed the case after Trump’s November victory, allowing Trump to avoid responsibility and return to the White House.
wreath It is reported that a statement was made to the prosecution in early 2021. The idea is that lawsuits can be filed against those involved in the January 6th riots wherever the evidence exists, even if the former president is implicated. But investigators were found unable to pinpoint financial ties between Trump and key figures in the field.
Prosecutors initially framed their case as Trump’s public lies of election fraud or his well-publicized efforts to force various officials to cancel the 2020 election, including his demand during a phone call that the Georgia secretary of state had fraudulently “discovered” the election. I don’t think I’ve considered doing it. 11,000 votes for him. call details It was released in one day. That material became a key element of Special Prosecutor Jack Smith’s final case.
Nevertheless, if the Justice Department indicts the former president, it seems inevitable that the Supreme Court will intervene to resolve the issue of presidential immunity that Trump will raise in court. Even if the Justice Department had acted quickly, the case could have been bogged down for years in appeals to the Supreme Court.
The Justice Department declined to comment for this story.
After being sworn in on the Eastern Front on January 20, President Trump is expected to continue his efforts to rewrite history by pardoning those involved in the attacks, whom he praised as “heroes” and “patriots.” This is the scene of the crime, the National Assembly Building.
Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), a member of the House select committee investigating the attack, said the Justice Department “acted quickly against the people who entered the building, but they were higher-ranking individuals.” , they waited almost a year.”
“It was a fatal mistake,” he added.
Federal prosecutors have so far secured more than 1,000 convictions in connection with the January 6 attacks, and more than 600 rioters have been sentenced to prison, ranging from a few days in prison to 22 years in federal prison for the Proud leaders. . Boys.
But the same cannot be said about the man who spread dangerous lies about the 2020 presidential election and urged hundreds of supporters to march on the Capitol in protest of Biden’s certification of election.
“I think the focus has been on making sure the department stays by the book and is clear that there is no political interference,” said Sen. Tina Smith (D-Minn.). “I’m really worried that he’ll become president and pardon a lot of people and continue this massive whitewashing of what happened.”
Other Democrats have criticized the Justice Department, noting that despite Trump’s role in the Jan. 6 attack and his efforts – unfair or not – to overturn the law, Trump was re-elected by winning the popular vote over Vice President Kamala Harris. was more charitable about. election.
“This is not about the DOJ. This means Trump has succeeded in rewriting history.” said Sen. Peter Welch (D-Vt.). “He vetted the people who attacked the Capitol and I don’t think a month ago, a month later, six months ago would have made a difference.”
“The reality is that the American people subsequently re-elected him. “Who would have thought of that?” Welch added. “Trump insisted this was a peaceful protest, continued to claim the election was stolen, didn’t back down at all and was re-elected.”
But Trump’s re-election came largely despite the American public’s opposition to his actions on January 6. About two-thirds of people who voted in the 2024 election believed Trump was “a lot” or “somewhat” responsible for the violence on January 6. According to exit polls, it ranks 6th. The problem for Trump’s opponents is that 70% of those who believe he is somewhat responsible for the violence voted for him anyway.
Likewise, two-thirds of American adults oppose Trump’s plan to pardon people convicted of insurrection-related crimes. According to a Washington Post University of Maryland survey: transmission.
The criminal case against Trump is almost over, but he could be awarded damages as a result of a small number of cases. civil litigation Law enforcement officials, congressional Democrats and the deceased officer’s estate have filed lawsuits against him in connection with the Jan. 6 insurrection. Unlike federal lawsuits, civil lawsuits can be brought against a sitting president.
Moreover, retired Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah), who voted to convict Trump for the Jan. 6 attack, said he believed history would judge Trump harshly on his culpability.
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“I think the people who write history are serious people,” Romney said. “I think they recognize, as does the world, that this was a terrible attack on the world’s model democracy.” “It will seem that way, and any effort to appear otherwise will be met with reality.”
