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Dear John,
Attorney General Merrick Garland must bring criminal charges against former President Trump -- now.
In the more than a year and a half since Trump lost the election, every new revelation, whether from text messages released by the Jan 6 Committee or interviews with former cabinet members like Defense Secretary Mark Esper, we learn more about Trump’s leading role in the first attempted coup in the 233-year history of the United States government.
The public evidence is already overwhelming. It’s not hard to imagine how much worse his criminal activity was behind closed doors.
But the window of opportunity for holding Trump accountable is closing fast.
Trump is already well on the way to completely rebuilding the Republican Party around his big lie. He is purging the GOP of his critics and installing loyalists in key state positions. And he is inspiring GOP-controlled state legislatures to enact election sabotage laws that will give Trump and his supporters opportunities to rig congressional election results.
Last Tuesday, Doug Mastriano, a January 6 insurrectionist and
Trump-backed Big Lie conspiracy theorist, won the Republican nomination
for governor of Pennsylvania.
If Mastriano wins in November, he will appoint the secretary of state, who will oversee the 2024 election results in one of the most important battleground states in the country.
It’s clear the upcoming congressional elections this year will serve as a proving ground for the future and set up attempts to steal the next presidential election.
The rule of law and the future of our democracy hangs in the balance. The Justice Department is not immune to public pressure. It’s time for Merrick Garland to hear from us. Join me in demanding Attorney General Garland indict Trump now!
Immediately after the midterm elections, America will be in the gravitational pull of the 2024 presidential primaries. Unless he is indicted and convicted, Trump will almost certainly play a leading role in every aspect of it.
He has already amassed a vast campaign chest, more than double that of the Republican National Committee. In fact, during the last six months of 2021, his PAC raised more money online than the GOP every day but two.
Some say Garland should not bring criminal charges against Trump because criminal charges have never been brought against a former president, but let’s be clear, no other president has ever done anything even remotely like this. A failure to hold Trump accountable for what he has done would pose a far greater risk for American democracy. It would permanently entrench distrust in our election system, legitimize future battles over every election result, and possibly provoke repeated rounds of violence.
It would also unequivocally undermine the fundamental concept that no one is above the law.
Trump’s indictment and conviction must occur as quickly as possible. The Attorney General and the Department of Justice need unrelenting public pressure to act. Tell Merrick Garland to indict Trump now.
The upcoming midterm elections won’t simply be a battle between Republicans and Democrats. It will be a battle to save our democracy.
Trump is a growing menace to our system of self-government. The longer he goes without consequences, the more danger he poses. But the sooner Trump is held accountable for his criminality, the safer American democracy will be.
The fight to protect and restore democracy demands accountability. Thank you for joining me in taking action today.
Robert Reich
Inequality Media Civic Action
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