A former U.S. Attorney says that it appears the House Select Committee on the January 6 Capitol insurrection is seriously considering referring failed, one-term former President Donald Trump to the Justice Department on a charge of seditious conspiracy.
Barbara McQuade, who served as the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan for seven years, made her remarks during an interview with Andrea Mitchell while appearing on MSNBC.
Mitchell asked McQuade about comments made by Congresswoman Liz Cheney (R-WY) the top Republican on the Jan. 6 committee:
“Congresswoman Cheney was saying that there are several criminal statutes in play as to whether or not there could be some enhanced penalties or some issue regarding the former president’s actions that day. What laws do you think could be used against the former president if it’s approved that he was criminally negligent by not calling off the rioters or do you think new laws would have to be enacted?”
McQuade replied:
“No, I think there are current laws on the books that could be applied there. I don’t know that negligence alone is going to be enough, but as Congresswoman Cheney has recited on occasion, there is a crime making it illegal to corruptly impede or obstruct an official proceeding, which includes proceedings before Congress. If he [Trump] had the power to stop that riot from happening and to permit the vote to go forward, his failure to do that could be that effort to corruptly obstruct the official proceeding. It may be, you know.”
And then McQuade brought up the most serious possible charge: Seditious conspiracy:
“We’ve got this 187 minutes when he sat and did nothing despite the fact that he knew that this violence and destruction was occurring. Is it because it was all part of a larger plan? So I think, in addition to that obstruction statute that Congresswoman Cheney has mentioned, I think we could also look at conspiracy to defraud the United States — that just means trying to impede the normal functioning of government — all the way up to seditious conspiracy. I think all of those potential crimes are in play.”
What exactly is the definition of seditious conspiracy? According to 18 U.S. Code § 2384:
“If two or more persons in any State or Territory, or in any place subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, conspire to overthrow, put down, or to destroy by force the Government of the United States, or to levy war against them, or to oppose by force the authority thereof, or by force to prevent, hinder, or delay the execution of any law of the United States, or by force to seize, take, or possess any property of the United States contrary to the authority thereof, they shall each be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than twenty years, or both.”
Twenty years in federal prison. Considering that Donald Trump is already 75, he’d die while incarcerated. And considering what he’s done to this country, he deserves to never see freedom again.
