Former Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith told lawmakers in a closed-door interview Wednesday that his team of investigators “developed proof beyond a reasonable doubt” that President Donald Trumphad criminally conspired to over the results of the 2020 election…

…Several Democrats who emerged from Smith’s interview said they could understand why Republicans did not want an open hearing based on the damaging testimony about Trump they said Smith offered.

The committee’s top Democrat, Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, said the Republican majority “made an excellent decision” in not allowing Jack Smith to testify publicly “because had he done so, it would have been absolutely devastating to the president and all the president’s men involved in the insurrectionary activities” of the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021…

  • Buffalox@lemmy.world
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    22 hours ago

    And despite that Trump was allowed to run for president!
    It was obvious what Trump did, even if it wasn’t obvious how to prosecute it. Trump was obviously not eligible for election, but nobody did anything to stop him. And Jack Smith was delayed for years so he didn’t have a chance to get the case ready in time.
    It almost seemed he was delayed on purpose!

    • ProfessorScience@lemmy.world
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      21 hours ago

      And despite that Trump was allowed to run for president!

      I wouldn’t want criminal charges from preventing someone from running for office. Otherwise someone like Trump, once in office, could just get his justice department to file charges against any candidate that he didn’t like. It is a failure on the part of the voters to have elected him despite the criminal charges (although not the only failure, certainly).

      • JohnnyFlapHoleSeed@lemmy.world
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        19 hours ago

        No dude. This wasn’t some made up charge for a bullshit crime. The fucking world saw what he said, what he did, and didn’t do, and multiple people died because of his actions. He should have been put in prison until his day in court, like anyone else would have been. Having the money to run for political office isn’t a means of avoiding justice

        • corsicanguppy@lemmy.ca
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          5 hours ago

          This wasn’t some made up charge for a bullshit crime

          That was never an issue. Did you read what he wrote?

        • ProfessorScience@lemmy.world
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          19 hours ago

          I agree. He should have been tried, and convicted, and put in prison. It was a miscarriage of justice that he was not. But even if all that had happened, it shouldn’t make someone ineligible for office, otherwise it could be abused by a corrupt government. Ideally it would make someone unqualified in the eyes of the electorate, but… well I wouldn’t count on it these days, unfortunately.

          • Nalivai@lemmy.world
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            5 hours ago

            When your country is corrupt enough so you can just put a fake charge on a person and make it stick, you’re done already, rules don’t matter. This rule only relevant in cases when judiciary system actually works and works independently of current leader.
            This rule will help those who follow the rules, and don’t stop those who don’t, so overall it’s a good rule.