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That he put considerable effort into overturning the election is established beyond doubt: he repeatedly attempted to pressure various officials in states he lo
by acdha 3y ago
That he put considerable effort into overturning the election is established beyond doubt: he repeatedly attempted to pressure various officials in states he lost, the DOJ, and the Vice President not to perform their sworn duties. His legal team filed many spurious lawsuits towards the same end and tried to concoct strategies for involving Supreme Court justices they thought owed him a favorable ruling. None of that is compatible with the oath of office he swore.
The only question is whether his actions around January 6th rise to the level of “insurrection”. He’ll claim telling his followers to match to the Capitol with instructions like "take back our country" and "fight like hell" was purely figurative, but given that there was no legal reason for them to even be there (the tallying isn’t a public survey, just officially recording what’s already happened) it’s hard to say his intention was anything but the illegal act it sounds like, and saying that wasn’t an attempted insurrection seems like you’re simply arguing that it doesn’t count if you are [fortunately] incompetent.
- nonethewiser 3y agoWhy do you think hes not being charged with insurrection?
- acdha 3y agoHe hasn’t been charged yet but as we’ve seen with the January 6th cases federal prosecutors are very conservative about making sure they have an airtight case first, and they’re often willing to bring lower charges which have a greater chance of success rather than risk losing a bigger charge. This is especially true for charges which require proving that someone consciously intended a particular illegal outcome. One of his 4 criminal cases currently in progress covers the election tampering because the evidence for those is very clear cut and doesn’t require proving his intention: https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/67656604/united-states-v-trump/ https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/67656604/united-states-...
- nonethewiser 3y agothen isnt it fair to say they don’t think they have sufficient evidence to get an insurrection conviction?
- acdha 3y agoOnly that they haven’t brought charges yet. We know he attempted to tamper with the election and that’s an objective question of facts where e.g. call recordings suffice as evidence. Proving intent for more serious crimes might hinge on testimony by witnesses who were considering playing ball but now that Republicans have are protecting Trump are instead mulling the odds of a January 20th pardon.