It was Trump who spent months casting doubt on the legitimacy of the election, claiming that he actually won it, and dismissing the officially certified results as fraudulent based on entirely made-up claims and crackpot conspiracy theories. He is the one who called on right-wing militias to “stand back and stand by,” endorsed poisonous QAnon conspiracy theories, and openly entertained sycophants who called for him to declare martial law. He was the one who summoned his supporters to Washington, D.C., for a day of “wild protest.” He is the one who egged them on in a speech earlier that day, vowing that “we will never concede” and thundering that “Our country has had enough. We won’t take it anymore.” and that “We’re going to have to fight much harder.” These are all acts of incitement that make him responsible for the seditious attack on the Capitol mere minutes later.
This makes for a pretty straightforward list of articles of impeachment, for which no arcane evidence or lengthy testimony is required. It has all been done in public view.
To be sure, Trump had many co-conspirators, who will remain unindicted. There were Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley and the other senators and representatives who repeated the president’s lies and egged on the protesters, on the cynical assumption that Congress would not actually be disrupted, that the protests would fizzle out and go nowhere, but that they would benefit politically by pandering to Trump’s most dangerously fanatical supporters. They toyed with sedition for political gain. They probably cannot be held to account for it by anyone except the voters—but the least they can do now is to stand aside while any member of Congress who is still sane and values the rule of law votes to remove a would-be dictator to prevent him from causing any more damage in the few dangerous days he has left.
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