Opinion: Distinguished pol of the week: Merrick Garland's boldest move yet
The indictment of the Oath idiots is a big deal
Attorney General Merrick Garland has faced tough criticism over his perceived timidity. Those concerns were wrong as he made clear this past week.
The Justice Department revealed massive indictments of members of the Oath Keepers, a far-right extremist group, for their participation in the Jan. 6 insurrection. A total of 19 individuals have been charged with corruptly obstructing an official proceeding, referring to Congresss tabulation of electoral votes. Eleven of them also face charges of seditious conspiracy, which can carry a penalty of up to 20 years in prison, as well as other charges, such as preventing an officer from performing his duties and tampering with official documents.,,,,,
First, and most importantly, this is the first time the Justice Department has identified the assault on the Capitol as sedition. Trump apologists had long argued that this was not a coup or effort to upset the government. The indictment argues otherwise. Seeking to disrupt the counting of the electoral votes is, if the indictment holds, sedition. And conspiracy to commit that crime is a serious offense entailing long prison terms. By invoking that charge against coup plotters, Garland makes clear he is following up the chain and will look at actions preceding Jan. 6......
Third, the indictment plainly lays out a legal avenue for indicting Trump and his cronies should the facts warrant. Trumps involvement in the plot to storm the Capitol including his incitement, his failure to halt it once underway and any attempts by aides to coordinate with the Oath Keepers could implicate him in the seditious conspiracy. Prosecutors would need to show he made an agreement with at least some conspirators, although it would not be necessary to prove he conspired directly with the Oath Keepers.