Trump could be charged with ‘seditious conspiracy’, ex-US prosecutor says| Today Headlines

Amid a cascade of new details about what former President Donald Trump did not do in the Jan.6 insurgency, a former federal prosecutor speculated on Monday that he could potentially be charged with “seditious conspiracy. “.

“There is a crime which makes it illegal to hinder or corruptly obstruct formal proceedings, which include proceedings before Congress,” former US Attorney Barbara McQuade said on MSNBC, referring to the certification of presidential electoral votes which was suspended by Jan. 6. insurrection. “If he [Trump] had the power to prevent this riot from happening and allow the vote to proceed, its failure to do so could be that effort to corruptly obstruct the official process.

McQuade highlighted Trump’s reaction to the insurgency.

“We have those 187 minutes where he sat and did nothing, despite knowing that this violence and disruption was happening. Is it because it was all part of a bigger plan? ” she asked.

McQuade also suggested that Trump could face charges other than obstruction.

“I think we could also look at the plot to defraud the United States – it just means trying to interfere with the normal functioning of government – down to the seditious plot, which is a plot to forcibly oppose the United States authority, “she said. “And so I think all of these potential crimes are at stake.”

Cheney, deputy chairman of the special House committee to investigate the January 6 insurgency, and Representative Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), Who chairs the panel, discussed Trump’s inaction as ‘he was watching the violence in the United States Capitol on television. to the White House.

“The president was told, ‘You have to tell your people directly to come home, to get out of the Capitol.’ And so it took over 187 minutes to make that simple statement. Something’s wrong with that, “Thompson said on NBC’s” Meet the Press “Sunday.

Cheney told ABC News “This Week” that Trump was fascinated by the violence on his TV screen and has repeatedly resisted requests for intervention, including those from his own family.

“We know that as he was sitting in the dining room next to the Oval Office, members of his team were begging him to go on TV to tell people to stop,” Cheney told George on Sunday. ABC’s Stephanopoulos.

“We have firsthand testimony that her daughter Ivanka came in at least twice to ask her to stop this violence,” Cheney said.