Thanks to the work of the House Jan. 6 committee, both former president Donald Trump’s depravity and the courage of police officers who protected the Capitol, Vice President Mike Pence and others will be indelibly recorded in history. We can be thankful that the coup attempt failed.

But before anyone gets overly impressed with the committee’s cooperating witnesses or with Pence (who still won’t testify in person, apparently), consider all the ways Trump’s allies and supporters could have put an end to the coup plot and spared the country the trauma of Jan. 6:

• Former attorney general William P. Barr could have refused to echo the false claims about mail-in ballots’ susceptibility to fraud. He also could have left out the fawning praise of Trump in his resignation letter and issued a clear statement debunking the “big lie” of a stolen election and warning about Trump’s refusal to accept the results.
• Pence could have promptly conceded the race, even if Trump did not. He could have denounced the “big lie.” He could have gone to the FBI or spoken publicly about Trump’s pressure campaign.
• House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) — and congressional Republicans en masse — could have recognized Joe Biden as the legitimately elected president and denounced the “big lie” as soon as the Trump campaign’s last appeal was exhausted. They also could have supported Trump’s second impeachment or voted to disqualify him from ever...

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