History, the saying goes, is written by the victors.

That particular flex is in motion today, the fourth anniversary of the Jan. 6 siege at the US Capitol. The timing and the symbolism couldn’t be more telling — and for some, of course, more worthy of being forgotten.

President-elect Donald Trump will also be returning soon to the Capitol steps, the scene of myriad crimes on Jan. 6, 2021, that have led to some 1,250 convictions. His inauguration will take place there two weeks from today, a couple miles east of the Ellipse — where the insurrection began after he gave a speech urging his followers to “take back their country.”

The Jan. 6 legal verdict has largely been rendered. The Supreme Court ruled last year that Trump (and all presidents) are entitled to a generous though ill-defined immunity from criminal prosecutions for “official acts” while in the White House. Then Trump won the 2024 election. Those combined developments prompted the Justice Department to reconsider and then drop its Jan. 6 prosecution of Trump.

The political verdict has also been delivered. A narrow plurality of voters — 49.9% for Trump compared with 48.4% for his Democratic opponent, Kamala Harris — returned Trump to the White House in November, undeterred by his efforts to........

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