Jack Smith’s dangerous criminalization of dissent
Washington Examiner
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“The attack on our nation’s capital on Jan. 6, 2021, was an unprecedented assault on the seat of American democracy,” special counsel Jack Smith said on Tuesday as he unveiled his latest indictment of former President Donald Trump. “As described in the indictment, it was fueled by lies. Lies by the defendant targeted at obstructing a bedrock function of the U.S. government.”
But there is nothing in the indictment that then ties Trump to the attack. More than 1,000 people have been charged for the violence of Jan. 6, 2021. Some have even been charged with a conspiracy to forcibly prevent President Joe Biden from taking office. This indictment does not allege that Trump was involved in any of those acts of violence.
DONALD TRUMP INDICTED: THREE TAKEAWAYS FROM FORMER PRESIDENT’S THIRD INDICTMENT
What the indictment does allege is that by repeating false statements, statements made in public and private, Trump was part of a conspiracy for which the purpose was to “overturn the legitimate results of the 2020 presidential election.”
The Washington Examiner argued as early as Nov. 20, 2020, that it was clear Trump lost and he should concede. That call was renewed on Dec. 15, 2020, after the Electoral College voted for Biden. We warned Trump was endangering his legacy by repeating false claims before Jan. 6, 2021, and we condemned the violence of that day.
But as clear as the evidence was that there was no substantial fraud and that Trump lost the 2020 election, it was also clear that Trump and millions of his followers believed otherwise. Smith has plenty of evidence that Trump was told he was wrong but scant evidence that Trump believed what he was told.
Citing the honestly held beliefs of their constituents that there was widespread voter fraud, 11 Republican senators and senators-elect signed a joint statement on Jan. 2, 2021, calling for a delay of the Jan. 6 certification. Both before and after Jan. 6, Trump endorsed this course of action. By the logic of the indictment and prevailing conspiracy law, these senators are just as guilty as Trump.
Why weren’t they charged? Because Smith knows it would be politically impossible for him to do so.
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This is nothing more than a political indictment designed to silence dissent from what the powers that be decide is truth. If enough government scientists and officials tell lawmakers that vaccines prevent the spread of a disease or that a virus did not originate in a lab, at what point are lawmakers considered liars if they continue to say they believe otherwise? Smith’s indictment doesn’t say.
These pages have already called on Republicans to reject Trump and choose any other nominee. These pages have also acknowledged that Smith’s earlier indictment has Trump dead to rights on tape admitting to giving damaging classified documents illegally to a reporter. But as badly as many people want Trump to be removed from the political scene, stretching the bounds of conspiracy law in ways that could be used against others to silence dissent is, at best, imprudent.