One year after insurrection, Cruz and others celebrate it – Marquette Mining Journal

WASHINGTON Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming marked the first anniversary of the mob attack on the Capitol by charging fellow Republicans such as Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas with dereliction of duty.

Cheney has called on Attorney General Merrick Garland to prosecute all who were responsible for the massive insurrection aimed at denying the legitimate election of President Joe Biden. Yet Cruz has rushed to the forefront of the defense of former President Donald Trump, as the bulk of the Grand Old Party continues to roll over to his dominance of the party faithful, who overwhelmingly embrace his lie that the 2020 election was rigged against him.

Cruz apparently believes he can position himself as the Republican heir to Trump in the party, should the Democrats succeed in derailing Trumps open efforts to restore himself to the Oval Office in 2024. Biden has already said he intends to seek reelection then, assuming his current good health continues.

The former president was poised to celebrate the one-year anniversary of the January 6 insurrection with a massive campaign rally. But he suddenly canceled it as some Republican backers expressed fears it might backfire against him among Democratic voters.

The House select committee investigating the insurrection has already held Trump White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and political strategist Steve Bannon in criminal contempt of Congress for refusing to testify. The select committee has obtained a reported 9,000 pages documenting conversations Trump has conducted with them and other Trump organization figures.

One other longtime Trump apologist, Roger Stone, also has been subpoenaed but has invoked his Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination, having obtained a presidential pardon from Trump. But a Democratic member of the select committee, Rep. Adam Schiff of California, has been a relentless pursuer of criminal charges against Trump, saying it is certainly possible they will be filed.

The current Republican ring of support around Trump is reminiscent of his second impeachment, held in Congress shortly after he left office a year ago. The central objective of that effort was to convict Trump and thereby bar him from future office. Despite widespread revulsion at the insurrection and clear evidence of Trumps dereliction of duty, the vast majority of House Republicans voted against the articles of impeachment, and only seven Senate Republicans voted to convict. Lacking a supermajority, the attempt to hold Trump accountable failed.

This time around, Congress is taking the necessary time and care to circumvent privilege claims by Trump administration officials in its efforts to collect evidence, and its possible the committee will make referrals to the Justice Department for prosecution.

The Justice Department, meanwhile, has arrested at least 725 participants in the insurrection, and some 165 have pleaded guilty, most to misdemeanors. This apparent concentration on low-level participants has frustrated many who wish to see the organizers of the attack speedily prosecuted and punished, although the DOJ appears to some observers to be building conspiracy cases that reach to the highest circles around Trump and perhaps even the ex-president himself.

We know much more now than a year ago about how Trump sought to pressure Vice President Mike Pence to violate the Constitution by denying certification to the rightful president-elect, Joe Biden. We know much more about how high-ranking Republicans assisted him. What is not yet clear is whether Trump and his cronies can be convicted of criminal acts.

Whatever the investigations uncover and achieve, voters should be forewarned of the grave danger they will put American democracy in if they give the disgraced former president a second crack at steering the republic.

Editors note: Jules Witcovers latest book is The American Vice Presidency: From Irrelevance to Power, published by Smithsonian Books. You can respond to this column at juleswitcovercomcast.net.

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One year after insurrection, Cruz and others celebrate it - Marquette Mining Journal