History is often about what-ifs. What has happened is a function of a lot of different choices at different moments, decisions that subtly or dramatically shifted the course of what was to come — and which often spur a single question: What if another path had been taken?

The riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 is such an event. An earthquake in the history of the United States, it, too, derives from a number of decisions, most of them taken by President Donald Trump. What if he hadn’t repeatedly made false claims about the election? What if he hadn’t seized on that day as a point of pressure? What if he’d decided against drawing supporters to D.C. by the thousands?

On Monday evening, America learned more about the extent to which Trump’s broad galaxy of allies, from Fox News hosts to Republicans inside the Capitol building, had urged him and his team to try to shut down the riot as it was underway. We’ve known since the day itself that Trump was disinclined to step in as the Capitol was stormed and as Congress and his vice president were hurried to safety. But we haven’t really known until now the range of voices who, as that unfolded, were pushing and pushing for him to more aggressively dismantle the juggernaut he’d created.

Whatever he and his allies say about the events of that day now, many were very clear in the moment on what was unfolding: a group of people was seizing and, then, had seized control of the seat of American legislative power — and Trump could make it...

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