Democrat Calls for Legal Punishment Against Trump After January 6th Event

The storming of the Capitol by pro-Trump forces on Wednesday is still fresh in our minds, and there are no shortage of opinions regarding the culpability that surrounds the event.

Earlier in the day, several hours before the MAGA wing of the Republican Party was traipsing about in our most hallowed hallways, President Trump spoke to the crowd.  There were perhaps tens of thousands of his supporters in attendance, and the language that Trump used during his address is now being parsed through by lawyers, pundits, and prosecutors, some of whom believe that the Commander in Chief may very well be culpable for the violence that took place.

This includes Chris Coons, who believes that Donald Trump could soon be facing some serious charges.

From a recent appearance on Face the Nation:

BRENNAN: You’re close to the president-elect who tweeted yesterday, “Our president is not above the law. Justice serves the people. It doesn’t protect the powerful.” What does that supposed to mean? Does he support potentially prosecuting President Trump?

COONS: President-elect Biden is focused on the enormous challenges that will face him when he becomes president 10 days from now. It is up to Congress in the next 10 days, to work to ensure the safety and security of our country, to press successfully, hopefully, for President Trump to resign, or for Vice President Pence to enact what he can do under the 25th Amendment. President Trump, by his actions over the last two months since the election, has lost the right to be president and by the actions this past Wednesday and his failure to take any responsibility or show any remorse for it of significance. I think he doesn’t deserve to be president anymore.

BRENNAN: Well, he won’t be in 10 days, regardless of what happens. Should he be prosecuted after he leaves office? You sit on Senate Judiciary. Do you think that would be appropriate?

COONS: I think there needs to be accountability for his actions. Whether that comes through the New York attorney general or the US Department of Justice we’ll have to leave for now. But many of my Republican colleagues are now calling for healing and for us to come together. I’ll tell you that there can only be reconciliation with repentance. And I think the single most important thing that Republicans in Congress who helped facilitate this widespread conspiracy theory that somehow the election was stolen- and the most important thing that President Trump can do in these remaining 10 days is to stop those lies and to persuade their followers and supporters that President-elect Biden is the duly elected president of the United States. That’s what Mike Pence certified on Wednesday night once we returned to the Capitol. That’s what Senators Blunt and Klobuchar certified. That’s an important next step if we are, in fact, going to have any healing.

The possibility that the New York Attorney General could get involved makes the prospect all the more interesting, as presidential pardons don’t have any jurisdiction at that state level.