Rampant Trump Misconduct Revealed By Democratic Congressman

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During an appearance on MSNBC’s The Sunday Show over the weekend, Democratic Congressman Eric Swalwell of California spotlighted misconduct on the part of former President Donald Trump that he hoped could be overcome by investigators at the Department of Justice and in local investigators’ offices dealing with related issues. Even recently, Trump touted his inclination towards pardoning Capitol rioters if he wins the presidency again — and these sorts of comments could directly provide incentives to certain rioters against accepting plea deals, which often include agreements to provide information to prosecutors. In other words, Trump appears to be potentially haphazardly upending part of the process to obtain accountability for January 6, so there’s real urgency here.

Swalwell discussed Trump’s misconduct in the context of recent comments from the former president including an assertion that his post-election goal had been to “overturn” the election — according to his own description. As he put it, then-Vice President Mike Pence “could have overturned the Election” — although actually, the vice president does not possess a legally recognized power along these lines. Before January 6, Trump feverishly pressured Pence, who presided over the Congressional proceedings to certify the election outcome, to block certain electoral votes for Biden, and his latest statement on the matter helps make the point of this pressure campaign clear. It wasn’t about carefully and competently examining (imaginary) fraud. It was about keeping Trump in power.

Trump has claimed that deliberations over potential clarifications to the legal provisions governing the presidential election outcome certification process mean that the power to change the outcome was there for vice presidents all along… but that’s not how that works. Swalwell commented as follows:

‘[Trump] has proven over the years to be quite successful at intimidating prosecutors, and destroying evidence — in making cases go away, so to speak. And so in Georgia, in New York, at the Department of Justice, I hope they do take that into consideration as they try and determine what his criminal intent is… I think we should give [Attorney General Merrick Garland] credit for what he’s done so far. He’s charged the act of sedition against some of the Oath Keepers who were a part of January 6, inspired by Donald Trump. He has charged Steve Bannon with refusing to work with Congress. And so these cases take awhile; I want him to be independent, but what we do not want is Donald Trump to get any benefit of the doubt because it would [supposedly] be better for democracy if we did not go after a former president.’

Watch Swalwell below:

In Georgia, Atlanta-area District Attorney Fani Willis is investigating efforts by Trump and certain allies of his to overturn the election outcome in her state, where Biden won, while New York prosecutors have already shown their willingness to examine Trump-related issues. At the Justice Department, deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco has confirmed that federal authorities are examining a plot to essentially forge electoral votes on behalf of Trump in seven states. These falsified electoral votes were assembled on the basis of notions like that doing so would help sustain the viability of Trump’s legal challenges to the election outcome… although there has never been any indication that the outcome could’ve been legitimately changed, once determined.