ABOUT JAN. 6 AND THE MIDTERMS

The House select committee’s ninth and likely final hearing involving the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol cemented the case that former President Donald Trump and his supporters plotted a coup.

In a normal world, Trump would be charged with insurrection and seditious conspiracy for his lead role in the Jan. 6 attacks, or at least barred from holding elected office again under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment.

However, in a normal world, Trump would have been convicted of abuse of power and obstruction during his first impeachment trial, or of high crimes and misdemeanors at his second impeachment trial. Then again, someone so obviously unfit for office never would have been elected president, and instead banished to the dustbin of history.

As the next election nears, front and center of every voter’s mind should be this central premise: Supporting Trump allies and election deniers will place the future of American democracy in jeopardy.

That may sound to some like hyperbole, but it isn’t. The recent House committee hearing showed Trump had a premeditated plan to claim he won the November 2020 election before all the votes were tallied. The facts compiled by the House committee are clear, yet Republican leaders and millions of voters choose to believe otherwise. …

With Trump as its leader, the extremist wing of the GOP remains a threat to American democracy.

The Jan. 6 House select committee did its sworn duty. Now it is up to Democrats, independents and any remaining patriotic Republicans to vote against elections deniers and to push to hold Trump and his enablers accountable.