![]() “Who is the single most powerful person who Merrick Garland has charged in connection with January 6? Nobody,” said CNN legal analyst Elie Honig on Thursday, channeling frustration among some experts with the slow pace of investigations into Trump and his associates. But it also begs the question why Trump, who inspired the rioters and has convinced millions of his supporters that he actually won an election he lost, has not faced similar accountability. This record bolsters Garland’s promise that the assault on US democracy would be punished. How 2020 election accountability could hit a 2024 roadblock REUTERS/Stephanie Keith/File Photo Stephanie Keith/Reuters President Donald Trump gather outside, in Washington, U.S. Capitol Building with tear gas as supporters of U.S. ![]() Nearly 600 rioters have been convicted and more than 235 have been sent to prison on lesser charges.įILE PHOTO: Police clear the U.S. All of those convicted potentially face decades in jail. Five leaders and one associate of another extremist group – the Oath Keepers – were earlier found guilty of seditious conspiracy in separate cases. Thursday’s Proud Boys convictions are among the most significant of hundreds of successful Justice Department prosecutions of people linked to the US Capitol riot. He’s also waiting to find out whether he and his political cronies will be charged in an investigation in Fulton County, Georgia, over his attempt to steal Biden’s victory in the Peach State. In cases directly related to the 2020 election, the former president is being investigated by special counsel Jack Smith over his actions running up to the insurrection. “Today’s verdict makes clear the Justice Department will do everything in its power to defend the American people and American democracy,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said after prosecutors secured convictions against the Proud Boys extremists in a historic case Thursday.īut Garland walked away from the cameras and didn’t take a question – presumably because he’s not yet ready to answer the one that is on the nation’s lips, about Trump. Given the fraught situation, the Justice Department’s next moves will be hugely significant. The legal complications facing Trump and Garland Whatever the liabilities of his own bid, including his advanced age, low approval ratings and an unpredictable economy, the current commander in chief is beseeching Americans not to trust their democracy to a predecessor who came close to overturning it in early 2021. The first scene of his reelection announcement video released last month showed smoke rising over the US Capitol and rioters with Trump flags. President Joe Biden, however, has made a counter bet. (He’s pleaded not guilty to charges of falsifying business records.) And that’s despite his indictment in a hush money case in New York. If the nascent Republican nominating contest is any guide, Trump’s legacy of disgrace is unlikely to scare off Republican primary voters, many of whom seem to be warming to him after his slow start. He’s spent two years denying the truth of January 6 and has anchored his 2024 campaign for a non-consecutive second term to the premise that he was illegally ousted from power in 2020. ![]() The former president is betting that it won’t. Even if the ex-president is charged with trying to overthrow the core principle of democracy – the peaceful transfer of power – will it ultimately hurt his 2024 campaign? Noah Berger/AP/Fileįour Proud Boys members found guilty of seditious conspiracyīut the legal uncertainty facing Trump – who appears in jeopardy in multiple investigations springing from his election denialism and other alleged transgressions – comes with a related political question. Proud Boys chairman Enrique Tarrio rallies in Portland, Ore., on Aug.
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