Benjamin Disraeli, the 19th century British statesman, once said: “Justice is truth in action.”
Translation #1: When the truth of a crime is exposed, lock up the criminal.
Translation #2: Merrick Garland, call your office.
The Jan. 6 committee, which launched its public hearings last night, obviously aspires to enlighten every swayable American about the failed coup in ’21 and the fascist threat in ’24. But it’s just as obvious that the panel is intent on providing the Justice Department with a blueprint for incarcerating the fascist-in-chief. Indeed, federal prosecutors need only read and heed what pro-Constitution Republican Liz Cheney outlined in her riveting opening remarks.
For instance: “Those who invaded our Capitol and battled law enforcement for hours were motivated by what President Trump had told them – that the election was stolen, and that he was the rightful President. President Trump summoned the mob, assembled the mob and lit the flame of this attack. You will also hear about plots to commit seditious conspiracy on January 6th, a crime defined in our laws as “conspir(ing) to overthrow, put down or destroy by force the Government of the United States, or to oppose by force the authority thereof.”
Yup, it’s right there in the federal code, 18 USC 2384. Trump was the ringleader of a seditious conspiracy to overthrow the government. It’s also a federal crime – see 18 USC 371 – “to interfere with or obstruct one of the lawful governmental functions by deceit, craft or trickery, or at least by means that are dishonest.” (Cheney didn’t mention that federal provision, but the Supreme Court in 1924 crafted that language.)
If Trump ever stands trial, prosecutors will need to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that (in Cheney’s words) when Trump “oversaw and coordinated a sophisticated seven-part plan to overturn the presidential election,” he did so with criminal intent – in other words, that he had consciousness of guilt, that he knew his actions were unlawful. Granted, there’s no way to peer directly into the sewage that sloshes between Trump’s ears, but the Jan. 6 committee clearly has the goods anyway.
It has incontrovertible evidence that Trump was directly told “over and over again” (Cheney repeatedly used that phrase) by virtually everyone in his orbit that the voters had ousted him fair and square, but that he repeatedly refused to do what our laws required: accede to the peaceful transfer of power. His own attorney general, Bill Barr, told him that the stolen election narrative was “bullshit” (as Barr himself told the committee).
Previewing what we can expect to hear in next week’s public sessions, Cheney outlined Trump’s criminal intent and connected the dots to the insurrection:
“President Trump ignored the rulings of our nation’s courts, he ignored his own campaign leadership, his White House staff, many Republican state officials, he ignored the Department of Justice, and the Department of Homeland Security. President Trump invested millions of dollars of campaign funds purposely spreading false information, running ads he knew were false, and convincing millions of Americans that the election was corrupt and he was the true president…This misinformation campaign provoked the violence on January 6th.”
Last night, we watched a video of a Trump thug at the Capitol, reading aloud a demagogic Trump tweet to the mob. We saw videos of various thugs who’ve since testified that they were inspired to storm the Capitol at Trump’s express invitation. We saw live testimony of a female Capitol officer, knocked unconscious by the mob, who recalls that “I was slipping in people’s blood.” And we learned that one federal judge, David Carter (a decorated Marine), in a separate court case has already assessed Trump’s criminal culpability.
Cheney told us: “President Trump’s efforts to pressure Vice President Pence to act illegally by refusing to count electoral votes likely violated two federal criminal statutes. And (Judge Carter) also said this: ‘If…President Trump’s plan had worked, it would have permanently ended the peaceful transition of power, undermining American democracy and the Constitution. If the country does not commit to investigating and pursuing accountability for those responsible, the Court fears January 6th will repeat itself.'”
There it is, the grim warning that unless we hold every criminal accountable, most notably the criminal atop the heap – indeed, unless we hew to what Benjamin Disraeli said, that justice is truth in action – our fragile democracy will remain imperiled by lawless and violent cultists. In the words of committee chairman Bennie Thompson, these are people “who thirst for power but have no love or respect for what makes America great: devotion to the Constitution, allegiance to the rule of law, our shared journey to form a more perfect Union.”
But his committee – which goes public again on Monday morning – cannot prosecute, convict, or incarcerate. Those tasks rest with the Justice Department. Sooner or later we’ll know for posterity whether Disraeli’s wise admonition lives on.