Trump Likely to Be Indicted, Will End Life 'Behind Bars,' Congressman Says

Authored by newsweek.com and submitted by Flashycope

Former President Donald Trump will likely be indicted and spend the rest of his life "behind bars," Representative Jamie Raskin said Saturday.

Raskin, a Maryland Democrat, served on the House select committee investigating the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot. The panel spent months probing Trump's role in the insurrection, which saw a mob of Trump supporters, allegedly motivated by his unfounded claims of widespread voter fraud, violently protest in a failed attempt to force Congress to block the certification of President Joe Biden's Electoral College win.

The panel last week referred Trump on four criminal charges to the Department of Justice (DOJ) and released a report into their findings, concluding the months-long probe and adding pressure to the former president, who is facing several other investigations.

Raskin reflected about the significance of the report during an appearance on Yahoo! News' Skullduggery podcast Saturday. The Democratic lawmaker said he "really would be surprised" if Attorney General Merrick Garland did not indict Trump for his alleged role in the riot, adding that "it's so clear" that the ex-president intended to "interfere" with the election certification.

"I do think it's very, very important that we establish that it's not just foot soldiers, but kingpins who are prosecuted," Raskin said. "And it's just wrong to send hundreds of foot soldiers to jail and leave the very clear kingpin unprosecuted."

He added that Trump could spend the rest of the life in prison if he's convicted on January 6 charges.

"There's just deep culpability from the very beginning in everything that Donald Trump did. I'm very serious about him facing the consequences and paying for the cost of his action," Raskin said. "He could spend the remaining days of his misanthropic life behind bars, presumably with Secret Service agents."

Raskin added that he believes the panel was "cautious and conservative" in the criminal referrals against Trump. Those charges included: inciting an insurrection, obstruction of Congress, conspiracy to defraud the United States, and conspiracy to make a false statement.

The DOJ does not have to act upon the referrals, and Trump has not been charged with a crime.

Raskin said Trump's potential prosecution shouldn't be the "be all, end all," adding there is more work needed to push back against "primitive forces of authoritarianism" across the country.

The congressman also pointed to the testimony of former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson, who painted a picture of the day of the riot during testimony earlier this year, as the most important piece of evidence revealed by the select committee.

Trump Maintains Innocence Following January 6 Report

Trump has maintained his innocence and accused the January 6 committee of launching a politically-motivated probe into him. Following the release of the report, Trump said the panel "did not present a single shred of evidence that I intended or wanted violence at our Capitol" in a video posted to Truth Social.

"The real story is what the unselect committee did not mention in their fake trial," said Trump. "Days before the protest I urged the deployment of 10,000 to 20,000 National Guard troops to keep the event safe for all involved ... there was no insurrection ... it was made up by these sick people."

Trump has also previously said he called for troops to be sent to the Capitol to keep the peace during the riot, but a PolitiFact fact-check found no evidence to back that up.

Newsweek reached out to Trump's press office for comment.

dankyouverymuch12 on December 27th, 2022 at 13:11 UTC »

I’ll believe it when I see it. He has never been held accountable for anything. I’m not holding my breath.

A_norny_mousse on December 27th, 2022 at 11:27 UTC »

So Newsweek got a flashy statement from a democrat. Essentially, this is what we've been saying, hoping for and working on for a long time now. And it's getting closer.

Still... "Likely" = rainbow press weasel words. Here's actual quotes:

"I do think it's very, very important that we establish that it's not just foot soldiers, but kingpins who are prosecuted," Raskin said. "And it's just wrong to send hundreds of foot soldiers to jail and leave the very clear kingpin unprosecuted."

"There's just deep culpability from the very beginning in everything that Donald Trump did. I'm very serious about him facing the consequences and paying for the cost of his action," Raskin said. "He could spend the remaining days of his misanthropic life behind bars, presumably with Secret Service agents."

Orwick on December 27th, 2022 at 11:20 UTC »

Older wealthy people with prison sentences, use every minor health issue they have, to argue for house arrest instead of an actual prison. So if convicted expect mr prefect health to have an endless list of health problems.