Adam Kinzinger, the former Republican Congressman from Illinois who was among the few nationally serving Republicans willing to break with Trump on the key issue of the integrity of the 2020 presidential election, joined those commenting this week on the new criminal charges against Donald Trump in Manhattan.
Kinzinger, when still in office, was a member of the House committee that investigated the Capitol riot, and in that capacity, he voted in favor of recommending Trump and others to the Justice Department for criminal charges related to the Capitol riot and the scheme to subvert the outcome of the 2020 presidential election that surrounded it. That, though, isn’t where this new case against Donald has emerged. Instead, it concerns hush money secretly provided to adult film star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election, funds that were already found to have broken the law because Michael Cohen, who provided the money, went over legal limits for the support individuals could provide to campaigns for federal office.
“Today is a somber day for our nation,” Kinzinger said online. “Donald Trump committed many crimes, but this indictment should be a reminder that in America, NO ONE is above the law. We must move forward and let justice prevail. The anti-democratic threat, however, hasn’t diminished.” He, of course, makes a solid point. Trump remains under criminal investigation in multiple other venues, and in accompaniment to this new case, Trump has predictably continued to clamor against the justice system, calling for action from his supporters while misrepresenting the substance of what’s been transpiring. (For starters, it’s not Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg responsible for having approved the case. That was the grand jury that had been hearing prosecutors’ evidence.)
“Trump called this the darkest day in American history,” Kinzinger also observed Thursday. “Not Antietam, Not Pearl Harbor, not 9/11. This.” If Trump gets back in office, what will he even do? As was the case after he lost the 2020 presidential election and obsessed with methods to try and stay in office, Trump might not even focus all that much on the actual duties of the presidency, like orchestrating the U.S. response to national security issues. After January 6, the government watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) has highlighted allegations Trump went weeks without even getting classified briefings. He’s already clearly stated his destructive ambitions in foreign policy, like antagonism towards the military alliance known as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), which is a key metaphorical guardrail against further armed conflict elsewhere in the world with forces like Putin’s government.
Today is a somber day for our nation. Donald Trump committed many crimes, but this indictment should be a reminder that in America, NO ONE is above the law.
We must move forward and let justice prevail. The anti-democratic threat, however, hasn’t diminished.
— Adam Kinzinger #fella (@AdamKinzinger) March 30, 2023
Trump called this the darkest day in American history.
Not Antietam, Not Pearl Harbor, not 9/11
This.
— Adam Kinzinger #fella (@AdamKinzinger) March 30, 2023
