Rep. Adam Kinzinger said he thinks the DOJ should charge Trump with crimes and explained why the former president should be convicted.
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Rep. Kinzinger said on CNN’s State Of The Union:
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Look, when we got into this, when we started this process, I didn’t know — I’m not a lawyer. I’m not a Justice Department guy. Didn’t necessarily know is he guilty of a crime or not. Obviously, what he did from a presidential perspective, an oath perspective is a problem.
As we got into this, I’m like, if this is not a crime, I don’t know what is. If a president can incite an insurrection and not be held accountable, there’s no limit to what a president can or can’t do. Yeah, I do think ultimately when we get to where we’re going to go, I think the Justice Department will do the right thing. I think he will be charged. I frankly think he should be. Everything we’ve uncovered from what he did with the Justice Department to everything leading up to January 6th to on January 6th, sitting there for 180 minutes and watching this occur in the hope that maybe that last attempt to stay in power will work.
CNN’s Dana Bash asked Kinzinger if he thinks that Trump should be tried and convicted and he answered, “So that’s my personal opinion. It’s not from a lawyer or justice department –I look at that and go if he is not guilty of a crime — I frankly fear for the future of this country because now every future president can say, hey, here is the bar. The bar is do everything you can to stay in power.”
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The best way to prevent a future president from doing what Trump did is to set a precedent that the plot to overturn the 2020 election was a crime, and if a president follows Trump’s lead, they will be criminally held accountable.
Whether or not Trump will be convicted will be up to a jury, but the very act of criminally charging a former president would establish the precedent that American election outcomes will be respected, and any illegal plots to overturn the will of the people will be prosecuted.
One of the most significant moves that could be made to buttress democracy would be to charge Donald J. Trump criminally.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
