The federal prosecutor who has been overseeing the the Capitol riot investigation says former President Donald Trump is indeed under investigation for committing sedition for his role in helping to incite the violence which transpired on Jan. 6 and left five people dead, including a member of the Capitol Police force.
Speaking with Scott Pelley of “60 Minutes” for an interview that aired Sunday evening, Michael Sherwin was asked if Trump had been a part of the ongoing investigation of the January incident. Sherwin replied:
“It’s unequivocal that Trump was the magnet that brought the people to DC on the 6th. We have soccer moms from Ohio that were arrested saying, ‘Well, I did this because my president said I had to take back our house.’ That moves the needle towards that direction. Maybe the president is culpable for those actions.”
Sherwin added that “everything’s being looked at” by prosecutors, which means that Trump and the rioters could be charged with sedition and other crimes:
“I believe the facts do support those charges. And I think that, as we go forward, more facts will support that, Scott.”
Pelley noted that it seems that the actions of rioters meet the standard of a sedition charge:
“I’m not a lawyer, but the way I read the sedition statute, it says that, ‘Sedition occurs when anyone opposes by force the authority of the United States, or by force hinders or delays the execution of any law of the United States.”
Sherwin, who was appointed by former Attorney General William Barr to oversee the DOJ investigation into the insurrection, agreed:
“The evidence is trending towards that, and probably meets those elements.”
Scott Pelley asks federal prosecutor Michael Sherwin if investigators are looking into President Trump’s role in January’s Capitol riot.
Michael Sherwin: “We have people looking at everything.” https://t.co/JT3n3zANnD pic.twitter.com/EbndYV1nbC
— 60 Minutes (@60Minutes) March 21, 2021
Imagine it for a moment: An ex-president charged with sedition and inciting a deadly insurrection at the nation’s Capitol. Trump faced similar charges during his second impeachment trial, yet a majority of the GOP members of the U.S. Senate voted to acquit him. That would seem to suggest that they too are complicit and should also be charged with crimes against the United States.
Featured Image Via CBS News
