The Case for Prosecuting Trump

<p>The Jan. 6 hearings have made it clear that Donald Trump led a concerted, monthslong effort to overturn a democratic election. The extensive interviews — over 1,000 — that the House select committee conducted prove that Trump was told there was no evidence of election fraud, but he pressed his anti-democratic case regardless. And it appears that the hearings may be making an impact on public opinion: An <a href="https://www.ipsos.com/en-us/news-polls/americans-think-jan-6-committee-fair-are-not-following-it" target="_blank">ABC News/Ipsos survey</a> released Sunday found that 58 percent of respondents believe Trump should be charged with a crime for his role in the Jan. 6 attack, up from 52 percent <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/3475050-52-percent-say-trump-should-be-charged-for-urging-supporters-to-march-on-capitol-poll/" target="_blank">in April</a>.</p><p>But after all the evidence comes to light, will he actually face legal consequences? If the answer is no, then what might future presidents — including, perhaps, Trump himself — be emboldened to do? And what would that mean for the future of the American political system?</p><p>Jamelle Bouie is a Times Opinion columnist and co-host of the podcast “<a href="https://jamellebouie.net/unclear-and-present-danger" target="_blank">Unclear and Present Danger</a>.” Bouie brings a remarkable historical depth to his writing about American politics. His columns about Jan. 6 — and the troubling idiosyncrasies of Trump’s presidency before it — have shown how the former president’s illiberal actions have threatened the constitutional foundation of American government. So I asked him on the show to help me process the Jan. 6 hearings with an eye to America’s past, and also to its uncertain future.</p><p>We discuss why Jan. 6 may be not just an insurrection but “a kind of revolution or, at least, the very beginning of one”; how the anti-democratic nature of the American Constitution makes our system vulnerable to demagogues like Trump; the most import