Even though he’s already on the hook for 37 criminal counts handed down by a grand jury empaneled by Justice Department Special Counsel Jack Smith as a result of his mishandling classified documents, failed former president Donald Trump and those who helped him plan and carry out the January 6, 2021 Capitol insurrection are also likely to face serious charges for their role in what transpired that day, according to Harvard University Professor Emeritus Laurence Tribe.
Tribe’s comments came a day after a report from the Washington Post that Smith’s team of investigators will be traveling to the state of Georgia on Wednesday to interview Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, who was pressured by Trump to “fine” nearly 12,000 votes so he could be declared winner in the Peach State.
“This would be Raffensperger’s first interview with the Justice Department.
“The Justice Department’s investigation of efforts by Donald Trump and his advisers to overturn the 2020 election results is barreling forward on multiple tracks, according to people familiar with the matter, with prosecutors focused on ads and fundraising pitches claiming election fraud as well as plans for ‘fake electors’ that would swing the election to the incumbent president.”
A main focus of Smith’s ongoing investigation, the Post notes, “is the conduct of a handful of lawyers who sought to turn Trump’s defeat into victory by trying to convince state, local, federal and judicial authorities that Joe Biden’s 2020 election win was illegitimate or tainted by fraud.”
The attorneys in question are Rudy Giuliani, Jenna Ellis, John Eastman, Kurt Olsen, Kenneth Chesebro, and Jeffrey Clark, according to the Post.
In response to the report and a tweet from New York University School of Law professor of law Ryan Goodman, Tribe wrote, “This tells me Smith is likely to ask a grand jury to indict the whole criminal gang that conspired to overturn the presidential election and overthrow the government. That includes Trump at the wheel’s center and his corrupt fellow seditionists and insurrectionists as its spokes.”
It will also be interesting to see if Special Counsel Smith decides to indict any Republican members of Congress who allegedly played a role in Jan. 6. Among those who are known to have been active in the Capitol insurrection are Reps. Andy Biggs of Arizona, Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, and Matt Gaetz of Florida.
Will Smith make a clean sweep and get all of the co-conspirators? If he does, the country would be a hell of a lot safer as a result.
