As Democrats look forward to the House Jan. 6 Committee’s final report and possible criminal referrals, some critics of former President Donald Trump are not satisfied with sitting on the sidelines.
For his part, U.S. Rep. David Cicilline (D-RI) is hoping to prevent Trump from ever holding public office again. Last month, Trump announced his 2024 presidential campaign.
Along with dozens of other House Democrats who signed on to Cicilline’s proposal, the House Judiciary Committee member cited the Constitution’s Fourteenth Amendment in making the case that Trump should be barred from office for engaging “in insurrection or rebellion” against the government.
Even Mitch McConnell asserted Trump was "morally responsible for provoking" 1/6.
You don’t get to lead a government you tried to destroy.
Today, I intro’d a bill to prevent him from ever holding federal office again under section 3 of the 14th Amdt.https://t.co/wjga9BxC10— Congressman David N. Cicilline (@RepCicilline) December 15, 2022
“Donald Trump very clearly engaged in an insurrection on January 6, 2021, with the intention of overturning the lawful and fair results of the 2020 election,” he claimed. “You don’t get to lead a government you tried to destroy.
Cicilline, who argued in favor of Trump’s impeachment on charges that he incited an insurrection, used an initial statement by House Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) to make his case.
Shortly after the riot on Capitol Hill, the GOP leader said that there was “no question, none, that President Trump is practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of the day.”
McConnell ultimately voted to acquit Trump in a failed impeachment trial that ended after President Joe Biden’s inauguration.
“We have no power to convict and disqualify a former officeholder who is now a private citizen,” he said at the time.
Despite the support of more than 40 Democrats, there is no guarantee that Cicilline’s proposed legislation will receive a vote — even in the Democrats’ final few days with control of the chamber.
Capitol Hill insiders indicate that the Jan. 6 committee is prepared to issue at least three criminal referrals — insurrection, obstruction of an official proceeding, and conspiracy to defraud the government — against Trump to the Justice Department in its upcoming final report.
In a scathing statement on the matter, Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung asserted: “The January 6th un-Select Committee held show trials by Never Trump partisans who are a stain on this country’s history. This Kangaroo court has been nothing more than a Hollywood executive’s vanity documentary project that insults Americans’ intelligence and makes a mockery of our democracy.”
