Donald Trump January 6 Criminal Charges Could be Very Close
Everyone’s heard it a million times before: “Donald Trump could face criminal charges soon.” As the years pass, the phrase
Tristan Green
Everyone’s heard it a million times before: “Donald Trump could face criminal charges soon.”
As the years pass, the phrase has lost meaning – becoming more proof of Trump’s ability to skirt the law and avoid accountability.
Whether you celebrate the watering down of the phrase or not, eventually it becomes unbelievable.
However, Trump may actually be facing criminal charges soon according to one legal analyst – and it could be over his biggest legal peril yet, January 6.
See: FURIOUS DONALD TRUMP TARGETS RIHANNA IN NASTY TRUTH SOCIAL POST
Donald Trump Could Face Charges Soon
DOJ “seriously considering” charges against Donald Trump: Legal analyst https://t.co/AsgC9Oa2tU pic.twitter.com/Jmzb7wMy1P
— Newsweek (@Newsweek) February 13, 2023
When Trump was accused of sexual misconduct, everyone assumed he would face criminal charges. When he was accused of fraud, the same.
Over the years, as more and more scandals and controversies unfurl around the former POTUS, a million criminal charges could have been brought against him.
However, a combination of prudent planning and a strong legal team have provided just as many outs for the former President, allowing him to live up to his nickname, Teflon Don.
But the arm of the law is long, and an attempted insurrection at the US Capitol couldn’t go unanswered forever.
The Department of Justice has been doggedly sorting through information, bringing forth the guilty for charges, and trying to find a pattern in the madness that led to the assault on the Capitol in 2021.
Dozens of minor players have already been prosecuted for the day, but finding the mastermind behind it all has been the most important piece of the puzzle in preventing it from happening again.
Many experts believe that mastermind could either be Donald Trump himself, or one of his close advisors.
A new subpoena may finally solve that mystery, after the DoJ recently issued a summons to former VP Mike Pence.
During the course of an investigation, major players are often left for last after the investigators have pieced together the picture and need to solidify their understanding.
So to call someone like Pence – as close to Trump as it’s possible to get politically – could signal that not only is Trump the target of their suspicions, but that charges are imminent.
Newsweek reports, “Barbara McQuade, a University of Michigan law professor and a former U.S. attorney said that subpoenaing Pence to testify under oath is a key step for prosecutors, while also setting up yet another showdown with regard to executive privilege.
‘It signals that DOJ is seriously considering criminal charges against Trump for January 6,’ McQuade told Newsweek. ‘While it does not mean charges are a certainty, DOJ would not take such a significant step as subpoenaing a former VP if they thought the case was unlikely to result in charges.
‘It also suggests that charges are close. Prosecutors typically question the top witnesses at the end of the investigation after they have learned as much as they can about the facts.'”
Trump will almost certainly work to exercise executive privilege to prevent Pence from providing any useful information,
But the tactic of invoking executive privilege requires President Joe Biden to sign off on it – and he has already signaled his unwillingness to prevent the investigation from gathering information.
The Supreme Court has also ruled against Trump in that respect, allowing the DOJ access to records that Trump tried to claim executive privilege on.
So while Trump and Pence may dance around the truth, they have little legal standing.
Does This Mean Donald Trump Goes to Jail?
Although McQuade and other analysts believe that Pence’s subpoena suggests the imminence of charges against Trump, what happens next is far less clear.
Donald Trump is, after all, facing equally perilous situations in other arenas too – including the Georgia investigation into election interference, for which charges could also be imminent.
So even if Trump ducks criminal charges for one investigation, he could face them for several others.
But if they find Trump guilty – not a given even if he faces criminal charges – and how they proceed after that is far murkier.
It’s unlikely Trump would be hauled away in handcuffs, and Biden may even choose to pardon him to keep the country’s harmony intact. Indicting a former President is not something the DOJ would do lightly, and pursuing punitive solutions would require even more care and caution.
But of course, that all requires Trump to be charged. While analysts believe the time nears in weeks rather than months, it’s one of those things that people won’t believe until they see.