Keep in mind that 1,265 people have faced charges related to the violence at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Keep in mind that 460 people have gone to jail.
Former President Trump was impeached for inciting that violent attempt to overthrow the U.S. government. But Trump remains a political force because the U.S. Senate refused to convict Trump after his impeachment. That left him free to run for president again.
The top Senate Republican explained why Congress dodged acting against Trump by pointing to prosecutors and judges as the proper actors to hold Trump accountable: “We have a criminal justice system in this country,” said Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).
But federal prosecutors looked away, too, refusing to indict Trump for fear they’d be charged with playing politics by going after a former president.
Now, state officials and judges in Maine, Colorado and New Mexico have ruled that Trump can’t run for president again, because the 14th Amendment explicitly bans anyone involved with insurrection from holding political office.
Trump’s lawyers say the states are wrong, because Trump has never been convicted of anything.
This week they will ask the justices of the U.S. Supreme Court to abdicate their responsibility as the last line of defense of the Constitution by arguing that it is not clear that........