National overview
Acquittal, but not finding
The indictment goes to a conclusion, to a short drama about possible calling of witnesses. Former President Trump is almost certain he will be acquitted, but that will not be much of a justification. His actions in the post-election period and on January 6 will ruin his reputation forever. He waged a dishonest and toxic campaign to overthrow the election that culminated in a mob that disrupted the January 6 Capitol counting of votes. The new videos played by the Home Managers during the trial brought home the national embarrassment of that day. , with top-elected officials scrambling for safety when the scramble descended. The Home Rulers were at their strongest, not inciting Trump’s conspiracy-laden attempt to stop the election result, his long catalog of inflammatory comments, and his failure to perform his duty to strike as early and vigorously as possible. All of this is damning, no doubt. The weakness in their case stems from the shortcomings of the article of accusation itself, which goes both too far and not far enough. At the heart of the article is the argument that Trump incited the crowd to attack the Capitol, that he “deliberately made statements that in context encouraged and predicted lawless action at the Capitol.” This indicates an element of intent that the drivers could not prove. On the other hand, unbelievably, the article does not even mention Trump’s actions during the riots, when he continues to criticize Mike Pence for being targeted by the mob, and that he goes AWOL while allies treat him beg to tell the rioters. stand. Trump’s defense team did not have good answers – or really no answers – when he inquired in the Q&A about what Trump was doing in those hours. If House Democrats had not rushed Trump one afternoon, they might have written a more airtight article. As it is, a number of Republicans will, quite reasonably, conclude that Trump is still guilty. If he had not falsely insisted that he would really win the election in the most contagious terms and promote a protest on January 6, there would have been no quarrel in the first place to get out of control. On top of that, his pressure campaign to get Republican officials to throw the election in key states for him was intolerable on its own. We hope that the Republicans will largely vote on procedural grounds – a trial after the presidency is unconstitutional, it’s time to move on, and so on. – will at least speak directly about the misconduct of the president. This is a quick charge, lasting about a month from start to finish. But the underlying events, and Trump’s unforgivable reckless behavior, will resonate for a long time to come.