2023 Should Bring Indictments For Donald Trump

The following is just part of an excellent op-ed by Colbert I. King in The Washington Post:

I fervently wish that 2023 will bring about a reckoning between Donald Trump and the law; that in the new year, the former president will be called to account for betraying his oath of office — and, if there is sufficient evidence to prove he has committed other crimes, that he be indicted. Neither is too much to hope for, and both are much desired. Trump, who is divisive and demagogic at home and favors autocratic regimes abroad, is the United States’ greatest scourge on public service in the 21st century.

Among U.S. presidents, Trump stands out most for his dereliction of duty.

His oath was simple and direct: “I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.”

But on Jan. 6, 2021, when the Capitol — the symbol of U.S. democracy — was assaulted by a mob summoned to Washington by him, Trump did nothing.

It was the most violent domestic attack on the U.S. government since the Civil War. There it was: a mob seeking to delay and disrupt a joint session of Congress empowered by the Constitution to transfer presidential power. . . .

We watched for hours as law enforcement, including a large contingent of courageous D.C. police officers, fought to clear the mob of insurrectionists out of the Capitol and off its grounds.

The president of the United States watched, too. . . .

As commander in chief, Trump had the capacity to marshal the power of the U.S. government to stop the blatant attack on a constitutional process. For more than three hours — 187 minutes, as the committee clocked it — Trump sat back and didn’t lift a finger.

Despite his sworn obligation to “protect and defend the Constitution,” Trump shamefully and shamelessly violated his oath. . . .

The Jan. 6 committee, concluding an 18-month investigation, said Trump did more than sit in the White House and sulk on Jan. 6.

In a referral of criminal charges to the Justice Department, the committee said that the former president, among other things, incited or assisted the Jan. 6 insurrection and obstructed an official proceeding of Congress. The committee unanimously agreed to the referral.

More to the point, Attorney General Merrick Garland has appointed a special counsel to oversee two criminal investigations that involve Trump: First, whether there was any unlawful interference with the transfer of power following the 2020 presidential election or the certification of the electoral college vote, and second, the alleged mishandling of classified documents and other presidential records and possible obstruction of an investigation.

Trump is up to his eyeballs in both.

Partisan GOP grousing and Trump’s witch-hunt claims notwithstanding, the Garland-led Justice Department can be expected to follow the facts and the law in reaching decisions about Trump and his confederates.

Here’s hoping 2023 will see Trump meeting at the bar of justice, with verdicts to follow.