Recently I asked my congressman why he won’t disavow former President Donald Trump? One might think that after Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said that Trump was “practically and morally responsible” for the events on January 6, 2021, any member of Congress sworn to uphold the Constitution would distance himself from the former president.
After all, it is beyond dispute that the riot at and invasion of the Capitol with the purpose of preventing counting the electoral votes was the greatest threat to the fabric of our country since 1861 through 1865. Yet has Rep. John Curtis, or has any other member of Utah’s congressional delegation, except Sen. Mitt Romney, shown the courage or rectitude to say that the country should never again put Trump in office again? Even Sen. Mike Lee, who, according to his ads, reveres the Constitution, has not fixed any blame for a constitutional crisis on Trump.
So, what was Curtis’s response to my question? It was essentially a history of the formation of the House January 6 Select Committee, and an expression of his concerns about the make-up of that committee.
He wrote that “the structure of this select committee will likely only lead to more division and delay the unity that our country needs.”
While that statement has a kernel of truth, it misses the boat completely. It is not the make-up of the committee, but the failure of the Republican members of Congress standing for election this year who refuse to call out Trump for his inaction on January 6 that is delaying the unity this country indeed needs.
There is a well-worn phrase that encapsulates the philosophy of the criminal defense bar when going to trial: “If you don’t have the facts, argue the law. If you don’t have the law, argue the facts. If you have neither, attack the prosecution.” That is the philosophy of the Trump defenders in Congress.
The January 6 select committee is partisan and flawed and therefor the evidence it gathers should not be believed, so they argue. While it is tenuous but possible to quarrel with whether the evidence gathered by the committee is sufficient to support some or all criminal charges against Trump for instigation of the riot, one fact stands clear and unassailable, the then-president did nothing to protect a co-equal branch of government from carrying out its duty to certify the election.
Why did he not? There is only one reason. He wanted the rioters to succeed in preventing Congress from doing so. For three hours, while Congress was under severe attack that not only destroyed property, prevented Congress from doing its job and resulted in loss of life, the self-proclaimed “chief law enforcement officer of the United State” sat and watched the riot on television.
Is there any doubt that if the election had gone his way, and the rioters were seeking to prevent Congress from counting the votes that finalized his win, that the president would have had troops protecting Congress immediately?
Why won’t Curtis, Lee and Reps. Chris Stewart, Burgess Owens and Blake Moore do the one thing that, more than any other, would help heal the country: say that Donald Trump, simply because of his failure to act on January 6, is unfit for public office? Not one of them is likely to lose his election this year. We know that every two years in Utah CTR does not mean “Choose the Right;” it means “Choose the Republican.”
While it seems hard to believe these days, sometimes the choice between right and wrong is absolutely clear. Forget that no president since Richard Nixon has had so many close associates convicted of crimes. Forget that other losers in hotly contested presidential elections chose not to fight the results for the good of the country. Forget that Trump’s attorney general and other high-ranking officials told Trump that the election was truly and honestly lost. Forget that Trump’s own vice president refused to support Trump’s infantile refusal to accept the election.
The Utah congressional delegation needs to remember only one thing, that for three hours the chief executive of the United States refused to enforce the law because he wanted the law broken.
It is long past time for these Republicans to Choose the Right and disavow Trump.
Stewart Walz, Sandy, is a former assistant U.S. attorney for Utah. He retired in 2018 after 41 years of service in the federal government.
from The Salt Lake Tribune https://ift.tt/PuU85ig
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