Amidst the nationwide and even global fallout from last week’s violent storming of the U.S. Capitol building by Trump supporters, D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine (D) revealed during a recent appearance on Good Morning America that President Donald Trump, Donald Trump Jr., and prominent Trump defender Rudy Giuliani could all face an investigation from his office. Both Trumps, alongside Giuliani, spoke at an outdoor event shortly before the violent storming of the Capitol, and among other inciting remarks, Giuliani called for what he called “trial by combat” during his speech. More broadly, all three individuals (and others) have pushed lies about the recent presidential election and concurrent calls to urgent action.
Racine commented as follows:
‘I think the question is, how far up does it go? Clearly, the Capitol was ground central in all of this mob’s behavior… Donald Trump Jr., Giuliani, [&] even the president of the United States were calling on their supporters and hate groups to go to the Capitol and, in Rudy Giuliani’s words, exercise combat justice. We’re going to investigate not only the mobsters but also those who invited the violence.’
At one point during Trump’s own speech at the D.C. event immediately preceding last week’s violence at the Capitol, the crowd burst out into a chant of “Fight for Trump!” — and the outgoing president replied with “Thank you,” before launching into (among other things) praise for Giuliani, who he said “fights.” At another point during the same unhinged remarks, Trump insisted that “if you don’t fight like hell you’re not going to have a country anymore.” In other words, his brazen incitement of the violence, which unfolded under the pretense of his lies about the election outcome, was glaringly obvious. When Trump’s supporters stormed the Capitol, members of Congress were inside the building, working through the motions of certifying the electoral college outcome — meaning Biden’s win.
After the storming of the Capitol, Trump justified the violence, writing on Twitter via his since-removed account that “these are the things and events that happen” when an election victory is stolen — which is, of course, not what actually took place, in any respect. No court anywhere in the country ever accepted the frenzied claims of widespread election fraud from Trump and his allies.
