About that “insurrection” charge…
There’s a well-known hypothetical that goes, if you were God what would you change? The answers include variations on ending world poverty, ending wars, ending cancer in children and so on. The question is often followed by a suggestion that perhaps therefore there is no God. I don’t know and I’m not here to debate that. I do know this much. I, too, would do things differently. But I’d be the first to admit that I might be wrong.
I also know for a fact that there really is a Special Prosecutor named Jack Smith and he really does exist. I similarly know that if I were in charge of Trump’s prosecution I very well might screw things up. Even so, I sometimes fantasise about it anyway. And I’m sure I’m not alone in that. But it’s my conceit that Trump would be in prison right now if I were a prosecutor who could charge him. Again, that might be a huge mistake in the greater scheme of things, so it’s probably just as well that it’s not up to me,
But I am not the first to notice that there is no insurrection charge in Jack Smith’s recent target letter to Donald Trump. That doesn’t mean Smith isn’t going to charge Trump with the insurrection. It just means it’s not mentioned in the target letter. Besides, there is no law saying that every charge being contemplated MUST be in a target letter. In fact, there is no law saying that Trump, or anyone, has a right to receive a target letter in the first place.
But I’m hoping he is charged with the insurrection. Because if he is, and he’s found guilty of that charge, he will be instantly and forever ineligible from holding any public office for the rest of his life. Just as a felon cannot vote or own a gun, a person convicted of engaging in an insurrection cannot hold public office in the United States. That’s not just a popular opinion, that’s a fact. And it’s in the fourteenth amendment of the Constitution of the United States.
Specifically, section 3 of the amendment says this: “No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may, by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.”
Notice, however, that there is an escape clause, and it’s contained in the final line of section 3. “But Congress may, by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.” In other words, even somebody who has actively engaged in an insurrection can have his or her ineligibility rescinded if two-thirds of each House agrees to it. With the current composition of both Houses that would never happen, of course. But it would give certain absurd Trump idolaters hope.
Anyway, it sure would be nice if Jack Smith ultimately charges Trump with the insurrection. After all, all of the work has already been done for him. The January 6 Committee has proven, not just beyond a reasonable doubt, but beyond all shadow of a doubt, that the insurrection is Donald Trump, and Donald Trump is the insurrection. They did a magnificent job. Why waste all that effort?
Now you might say — and you might be right to say it — what does it matter anyway? The chances of Trump holding so much as the office of Florida dog catcher are vanishingly small. That seems true enough. But why even take that chance? And why give the MAGA crowd any more hope that he can ever be eligible to be president again?
Besides, Trump is guilty of that great crime, and therefore he should be charged with it. Justice cries out for it. In fact, of all the crimes that Donald Trump has committed, his attempted coup d’état against the American people is perhaps the most egregious. So do us all a favour, Mr Smith, charge him with that one too. And, as ever, ladies and gentlemen, brothers and sisters, comrades and friends, stay safe.
Robert Harrington is an American expat living in Britain. He is a portrait painter.