We must learn from the January 6th attack on the Capitol, and Congress must act to protect our country from President Trump’s continued siege against democracy and our Constitution. Today, on the fifth anniversary of the insurrection, CREW sent a letter to Congress, outlining the damage done by the insurrection and the dangers of returning an oathbreaking insurrectionist to office.

Five years ago, President Trump incited a violent insurrection against the Constitution by repeatedly promoting a series of lies that the 2020 presidential election was stolen, pressuring government officials to overturn the election results, and summoning a mob that breached police barriers and stormed the Capitol. More than 100 Capitol Police officers were injured in addition to dozens of DC Metropolitan Police officers, five of whom died in the days following the attack. The damage of the January 6th attack cannot only be measured in injuries and deaths, but in dollars and destruction as well, costing taxpayers about $2.7 billion in damages. Despite the severity of this attack, President Trump has granted clemency to every single person convicted of participating in the insurrection, pardoning about 1,500 people and commuting the sentences of 14 people, several of whom had been convicted of seditious conspiracy and assaulting law enforcement officers. 

Since returning to the presidency, Trump has demonstrated the dangers of allowing an oath-breaking insurrectionist to return to power. Trump’s actions make clear that he feels unbound and unconstrained by the Constitution, the rule of law and historical norms. President Trump’s ongoing attempts to sabotage our elections with illegal, unconstitutional missives seeking access to state voter rolls, which contain the sensitive data of millions of Americans, are alarming abuses that suggest that his next attack on our democracy will not look exactly like the January 6th attack. The Trump administration has also flagrantly sought to usurp Congress’s spending power, fired federal workers and watchdogs without a clear congressional mandate, defied judicial orders in at least 12 court cases and used hostile rhetoric that compromises the safety of federal judges. Moreover, through personal lawsuits, his inauguration fund, presidential library and White House ballroom project, in addition to the numerous conflicts of interest posed by his family’s sprawling business empire, Trump has engaged in unprecedented self-dealing and profiteering. His acceptance of the $400 million jet from Qatar, is just one example of his many conflicts of interest tied to gifts and investments from foreign actors, which in many cases violated the Domestic and Foreign Emoluments Clauses. 

On this fifth anniversary of the January 6th assault on the Capitol, we must acknowledge that the attack on our Constitution was not a single event. President Trump returned to office without being held accountable for his conduct that contributed to the insurrection. Now is the time to reimagine our system and develop the sweeping reforms that are necessary to reverse the damage done, protect constitutional rights and establish a truly transparent, ethical and accountable government.

Read the letter.

Photo by Tyler Merbler under Creative Commons license

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