When Donald Trump claimed that he had won the 2020 election—and when he exhorted his followers, on that basis, to march to the Capitol on January 6, 2021—did he know that his claim wasn’t true?
The answer to that question isn’t obvious. One could argue, based on Trump’s public behavior, that he was pathologically deluded and sincerely thought he had won. If some jurors buy that theory—if they decide that Trump was sincere, albeit wildly wrong—it might be hard to convict him of the crimes for which the House January 6th Committee has recommended his prosecution.
On Monday, in its final hearing, the committee referred Trump to the Department of Justice for possible indictments based on four statutes. One of the statutes, 18 U.S.C. § 1512, applies only if the accused person “corruptly” sought to impede an official proceeding. Another, 18 U.S.C. § 371, applies only if he conspired to “defraud” the government, using “deceit, craft or trickery.” A third, 18 U.S.C. § 1001, applies only if he “knowingly and willfully” made false or fraudulent statements.
In the hearing and in the “introductory material” the committee released in anticipation of its full report later this week, the panel’s members concluded that Trump knew enough to be charged with these crimes. Here’s their evidence.
1. Trump planned to claim fraud long before he had any plausible basis. “In the weeks before election day 2020, Donald Trump’s campaign experts, including his campaign manager Bill Stepien, advised...
Over the last year, beyond traditional healthcare and federal procurement matters, the government has pursued federal False Claims Act (FCA) investigations and enforcement across high-risk areas, i...