It’s never going to stop, is it?
Today, Donald Trump was acquitted for a second time by the Senate after being impeached. This time, he was found not guilty of inciting the riot at the Capitol Building on January 6th. Though much hyperventilating has commenced, I believe the facts supported that decision. Trump simply didn’t meet the standard for incitement, even some low-bar political standard set forth by Congress. To have found differently would presuppose that rowdy, yet commonly used political speech (“fight like hell,” etc.) now qualifies as promoting violence. That’s not a standard I think anyone in Washington truly wants applied evenly.
Regardless, with Democrats and the anti-Trump right feeling embarrassed once again, they are proving they just can’t quit Trump. Now, they are fantasizing about taking him down via a criminal investigation.
The new savior of the Republic is apparently a left-wing prosecutor in Fulton County, GA that is going to take Trump down based on a bunch of supposition about a phone call. Sound familiar? As I wrote at the time when that Georgia investigation was made public, it’s very unlikely that anything comes of it (see Donald Trump Is Now Under Criminal Investigation in Georgia). The only questionable comment by Trump is easily explained by the fact that Trump felt not all legal votes were being counted. You can think he’s wrong, but that doesn’t negate the fact that you’d have to prove a heck of a lot more for a criminal charge to stick.
As to whether Trump will be criminally charged for “incitement” regarding January 6th, let’s just say the answer is almost certainly not.
The bar for such a charge is very high, and rightfully so. That’s a non-starter, no matter how much CNN may want it to be a thing.
Of course, there’s another option Democrats are salivating over. Remember all the talk about the 14th Amendment and insurrection? That doesn’t appear to apply here either. Trump was clearly not part of a conspiracy to commit sedition and start an insurrection, nor was January 6th an “insurrection” anyway. It simply doesn’t meet that definition.
In the end, none of this is going anywhere, but the left are desperate to keep Trump at the forefront because they believe they can make political hay out of it. That was the entire point of that last, ridiculous impeachment attempt. Trump also equals big ratings for a news industry that is cratering in his absence.
The reality is that continuing this stupid crusade is only going to make Trump stronger. If that’s what the left wants, then congratulations.