ROBERT REICH: How we can remove seditionists from Congress

 

Now that Democrats are in power, I've got an idea: Let's defund Donald Trump's presidential pension and divert the funds to reunite migrant children with their parents.

Trump is no longer the president, and I say that we treat him as though he never was. No $200,000 pension. No million-dollar travel budget. No national security briefings. No respect. Not for someone who led a white supremacist insurrection on the U.S. Capitol, did everything he could to attack Black and brown communities, and trampled on our democratic values.

But we can't stop at holding only Trump accountable. We also need to hold accountable Ted Cruz, Josh Hawley, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Lauren Boebert, and all other right-wing members of Congress who helped incite a deadly, white supremacist attack on our Capitol and our democracy.

Which is why my friends at MoveOn—the biggest progressive advocacy organization in the country—are leading a huge, all-hands-on-deck campaign to demand that Trump be convicted in his Senate impeachment trial and banned from seeking federal office again, and that the seditionist members of Congress be immediately removed from office.

 I was greatly dismayed when I read the explosive court filings in which federal prosecutors allege that the white supremacist mob that stormed the Capitol aimed to "capture and assassinate elected officials."¹

I was sickened when I read that some members of the mob even carried nooses, bats, pipes, chemical weapons, and zip-tie handcuffs, and that others planted bombs around Washington, D.C., in an effort to divert law enforcement from the Capitol.²

And I was disgusted by the video released last week in which the violent mob clearly says they were inspired by Trump, Cruz, Hawley, and other right-wing members of Congress. Members of the mob are heard saying: "[Ted] Cruz would want us to do this." "We are listening to Trump." "We are at war … traitors to the guillotine."³

But nothing has repulsed me more than the chilling allegations that sitting members of Congress may have actively aided and abetted the attack. Bombshell reports allege that Republican members of Congress may have led leaders of the white supremacist riot on "reconnaissance" tours of the building the day before the attack, apparently to make sure that they would know where to find the targets of their violence, including then-Vice President Mike Pence. And there are allegations that right-wing Representative Lauren Boebert live-tweeted Speaker Nancy Pelosi's location and movements during the attack on Capitol Hill, in what appears to have been an effort to help the racist mob locate her.^4,5

We simply can't let this despicable attack on our principles and one of our most cherished democratic institutions—an attack instigated from inside Congress—go unanswered. Which is why we absolutely must do everything we can to ensure that any right-wing politicians who incited racist violence are removed from office and held to account.

Like you, I watched the inauguration on Wednesday and felt a surge of hope and redemption.

We witnessed our cherished tradition of the transfer of power when Joe Biden was sworn in as president of the United States.

We saw Kamala Harris make history as the first woman, first Asian American, and first Black person to assume the vice presidency.

We saw Trump leave office, with his tail between his legs, scurrying off to Mar-a-Lago.

Today, Stephen Miller no longer works at the White House, and Jared Kushner no longer has an office in the West Wing.

And Mitch McConnell is now officially the Senate MINORITY leader.

Darn, that feels good.

But while our nation came together to toss these vile figures out of power, the harm they've inflicted remains. And the work to undo their despicable legacy begins with ensuring that there are serious consequences for Trump and every member of Congress who incited the white supremacist mob to launch an attack on our Capitol that left several people dead and many others injured.

Thanks for all you do.

–Robert Reich

Sources:

1. "Capitol rioters aimed to 'capture and assassinate' officials, federal prosecutors allege," Los Angeles Times, January 15, 2021
https://act.moveon.org/go/149571?t=8&akid=288629%2E3735812%2EdJWu-W

2. "Lawmakers Were Feet and Seconds Away From Confrontation With the Mob in the Capitol," The Wall Street Journal, January 12, 2021
https://act.moveon.org/go/149572?t=10&akid=288629%2E3735812%2EdJWu-W

3. “A Reporter's Footage from Inside the Capitol Siege," The New Yorker, January 17, 2021
https://act.moveon.org/go/149573?t=12&akid=288629%2E3735812%2EdJWu-W

4. "Lawmakers gave groups 'reconnaissance' tours of the Capitol one day before riots, Democratic congresswoman says," The Washington Post, January 13, 2021
https://act.moveon.org/go/149348?t=14&akid=288629%2E3735812%2EdJWu-W

5. "A Colorado Republican tweeted about Pelosi's location during the Capitol siege. She's now facing calls to resign," The Boston Globe, January 12, 2021
https://act.moveon.org/go/149350?t=16&akid=288629%2E3735812%2EdJWu-W