The US is 'running out of time’ to hold a 'lawless former president accountable': ex-Cruz staffer

14 October 2022

When the January 6 select committee held a hearing on Thursday, October 13 following its hiatus, there was a major bombshell: the committee voted to subpoena former President Donald Trump. It remains to be seen whether or not Trump will comply with the subpoena; Never Trump conservative Amanda Carpenter believes it is “not likely” that Trump will comply.

Discussing the subpoena in an article published by The Bulwark on October 14, Carpenter emphasizes that the committee’s work is about much more than the violence that occurred in Washington, D.C. on January 6, 2021; it is also about the survival of U.S. democracy. And she warns that time is running out when it comes to holding Trump “accountable” for an attempted coup.

“The subpoena expires at the end of this Congress,” Carpenter notes. “And while Trump’s presumed refusal to cooperate is an essential part of the factual record this committee is establishing for the public, it also underscores how inept our democratic system is at confronting a lawless former president.”

Carpenter continues, “Over the last year, the committee compiled a damning record of evidence demonstrating Trump’s responsibility for the attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. This evidence took the form of contemporaneous records, criminal legal findings, and sworn testimony. Nearly all of the sworn testimony came from Trump’s own staff. The committee aired those findings through a series of plain-spoken, well-constructed public hearings. In response, Trump hasn’t even attempted to defend himself on the merits of the case. Instead, Trump has opted to attack the committee with all manner of smears, conspiracies and lies, none of which are fundamentally different from the smears, conspiracies and lies he has trafficked in for the whole of his journey through the American political system. Now what?”

Carpenter points out that “more than 800 individuals in all 50 states and the District of Columbia” have “been arrested for crimes related to the attack on the Capitol,” noting Rep. Liz Cheney’s argument that the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) needs to do more than “punish the foot soldiers” — it also needs to hold “those who planned to overturn our election and brought us to the point of violence” accountable.

Carpenter writes, “Thanks to the January 6 committee…. there are more knowns than unknowns about Trump’s responsibility for the attack. Namely: Trump’s premeditated plan to declare the election stolen, his awareness that there was no evidence of fraud, the pressure campaign he exercised on federal, state, and local officials to investigate and overturn the results, (and) his knowledge that the mob he summoned was armed.”

But Carpenter adds that “even with all this evidence, nothing has really changed.”

The Never Trump conservative warns, “No significant penalties have been inflicted on the members of the political class who were responsible for the insurrection…. (Trump) remains favored as the 2024 GOP presidential nominee. He promises to pardon his violent supporters who attacked the Capitol. That’s Donald Trump’s vision of justice for January 6th. If our system is going to hold him accountable, it better get to work. Because it’s running out of time.”

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