Trump Could Still Be Jailed for Sedition Even if Not Convicted in the Senate
A question that keeps popping into my mind is: why is the entire focus on Trump’s Senate trial? Of course it would be great if they did convict him and make it impossible for the Great Man to hold office ever again. But what seems to me to be more plausible, realistic and… appropriate, is for the Department of Justice to simply move forward with indicting Citizen Trump on sedition charges.
Sedition is defined (in part) as follows:
18 U.S. Code § 2384 — Seditious conspiracy
If two or more persons in any State or Territory, or in any place subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, conspire to overthrow, put down, or to destroy by force the Government of the United States, or to levy war against them, or to oppose by force the authority thereof, or by force to prevent, hinder, or delay the execution of any law of the United States, or by force to seize, take, or possess any property of the United States contrary to the authority thereof, they shall each be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than twenty years, or both.
Our former Attorney General called for it when investigating Capitol Hill protestors last fall:
Justice Dept.: Sedition Charge May Apply to Protest Violence
In a memo to U.S. attorneys Thursday obtained by The Associated Press, the Justice Department emphasized that federal prosecutors should aggressively go after demonstrators who cause violence and even sedition charges could potentially apply.
U. S. News
And now, the DOJ is aggressively looking at such charges with respect to the attack on the Capitol on January 6th:
Washington Post
But, those being investigated include everyone except the person who instigated it, and for whom the attack exclusively was done to benefit.
So, why leave bringing the prime suspect in this act of insurrection and sedition to justice, to the will of Senate Republicans? Most of whom were complicit in the attempted coup to begin with, by supporting and advancing the lie of a fraudulent election, and by protecting its perpetrators.
President Biden has said that he will leave such matters to the incoming Attorney General, and has seemingly shown his preference for “moving on” for the sake of unity, by putting a sitting US President’s attempt to overthrow the US Government behind us.
Personally, I think this is would be an egregious mistake, and a further gutting of our supposed “rule of law”, which the rest of us are required to abide.
The law is clear, and the evidence extraordinarily well-documented.
There seems to me a much more reasonable, direct and appropriate way of justice being truly served than in the Halls of Congress.
Let’s “Lock him up”, and then put the matter to rest.
