Select Committee Accuses Trump of Multiple Crimes, But Trump Is Above the Law
Select Committee Accuses Trump of Multiple Crimes, But Trump Is Above the Law
Soon the January 6 violence case will also be brushed under the carpet and Trump will keep making hostile remarks against his opponents and the investigating teams.
By Rakesh Raman
Former U.S. President Donald Trump has proved time and again that he is above the law and the weak American judiciary cannot hold him accountable for his countless crimes. The American laws have, in fact, succumbed to Trump’s blatant refusal to obey them in multiple cases that he has been facing.
In yet another case, the select committee that was formed to investigate Trump’s involvement in the violent riots on January 6, 2021 released its findings on December 19, 2022.
The committee has accused Trump of four crimes, including an attempt of insurrection with the aim to subvert the transfer of presidential power to Joe Biden who had won the presidential election in 2020.
The committee has released a 154-page introductory report titled: “Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol.” The report carries details of the charges against the defendants who were allegedly involved in a seditious conspiracy against the United States and other crimes related to the January 6, 2021, attack on Congress.
The committee found that there is enough evidence to suggest that Trump provided “aid and comfort” to a violent mob that was attacking the Capitol in an attempt to retain his position as the U.S. President even after his loss in the 2020 election.
The committee also recommended that Trump should be charged with obstructing Congress’s January 6, 2021 joint session, conspiracy to make false statements, and conspiracy to defraud the United States.
As usual, Trump dismissed all allegations made against him by the investigating committee and said on December 19, 2022 that House lawmakers have recommended “fake charges” as they want to stop him from running for the White House again.
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TRUMP IS ABOVE THE LAW
Although the Trump-led mob violence is a case of failed revolt against the elected government, he will again dodge the legal system to get off scot-free. He has done it many times in the past.
First he refused to appear before the special counsel Robert Mueller who was investigating his ties with Russia to steal the 2016 presidential election. Instead of insisting on Trump’s appearance, Mueller ignored Trump’s refusal and submitted a sketchy report that was dumped without proper discussion.
Then Trump was caught red-handed when he was forcing Ukraine to implicate his Democratic presidential rival Joe Biden in a frivolous corruption case.
When the House of Representatives – the lower house of the United States Congress – started impeachment proceedings against Trump, he obstructed the impeachment inquiry by refusing to provide related documents and also stopped witnesses from participating in the impeachment hearings.
The House had passed 2 articles of impeachment: abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. But Trump has no respect for any law and he kept behaving as a dictator. While his trial was supposed to begin in the Senate, Trump issued the diktat for the Republican Senators to end the trial without proper investigation.
Also, despite multiple legal attempts, the authorities failed to obtain Trump’s tax returns. It is believed that Trump refused to show his tax and financial records because he has amassed plenty of illegal wealth through shady deals.
According to a CNN report of May 18, 2021, the real reason that Trump refused (and refuses) to release his taxes is because they revealed him having paid almost zero actual taxes to the federal government for 10 of the previous 15 years and showed that he had (and has) massive debts coming due that he has personally guaranteed.
The New York State Attorney General Letitia James’s office opened a criminal investigation into the dealings of the Trump Organization. James’s spokesman indicated that her office’s probe is being conducted in conjunction with the criminal investigation of Trump and the Trump Organization by the office of Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr.
According to a CNBC report of May 18, 2021, both investigations are exploring claims by Trump’s former personal lawyer Michael Cohen that the Trump Organization misstated real estate valuations to reduce their tax liabilities, and get better loan and insurance terms.
In response, Trump said there is nothing more corrupt than an investigation that is in desperate search of a crime. “But, make no mistake, that is exactly what is happening here. The Attorney General of New York literally campaigned on prosecuting Donald Trump even before she knew anything about me,” Trump wrote in a haphazardly written blog post on his “Save America” website.
Trump’s son Donald Trump Jr. also shared a video to defend Trump. Baby Trump said in the video posted on May 19, 2021 that the witch hunt in New York continues. “Here’s what my father had to say,” he argued in the video about the criminal investigation.
Meanwhile, the House voted on May 19, 2021 to approve a legislation to establish an independent commission to investigate the violent insurrection on January 6 in the U.S. Capitol. The final vote was 252-175, with 35 Republicans breaking with their party to support the bill.
Trump was accused of incitement to insurrection, as the House of Representatives had delivered the charge to the Senate on January 25, setting in motion Trump’s second impeachment trial. However, Trump was acquitted because the Democrats could not get sufficient support from Republicans in the Senate.
The Senate voted that Trump was not guilty of inciting the violent riots on January 6 at the U.S. Capitol. In the final verdict pronounced in February, 57 senators found Trump guilty to 43 who said he is not guilty. Democrats needed 67 votes to convict Trump.
Republican Trump has become the only U.S. president who has been impeached twice by the House and the first to face trial after leaving office. But despite multiple investigations, formal charges, and court cases, Trump has not been punished.
Soon the January 6 violence case will also be brushed under the carpet and Trump will keep making hostile remarks against his opponents and the investigating teams.
By Rakesh Raman, who is a national award-winning journalist and social activist. He is the founder of the humanitarian organization RMN Foundation which is working in diverse areas to help the disadvantaged and distressed people in the society.
