EDITORIAL: Jan. 6 Committee justly files Trump subpoena

Oct. 16—The final public hearing of the Jan. 6 committee came with a unanimous vote to subpoena ex-President Donald Trump in a remarkable series of events that mark a dark chapter in American history.

The committee, including Republican members Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming and Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, made its conclusions after reviewing thousands of documents and interviewing hundreds of witnesses, some loyal to the former president. The testimony, even from loyalists, was damning.

A sitting president violated his oath to protect and uphold the Constitution.

Trump's closest advisors and family members tried to tell him he lost the election and his actions to stop the vote by inciting a riot were illegal on a number of fronts. They begged him to consider the safety of all in the call to arms on Jan. 6. He ignored those calls.

The investigation now shows Trump's actions enabled a premediated violent attack on the Capitol from the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys — violent paramilitary groups who had a cache of arms in an Arlington hotel, ready to execute an armed insurrection.

Advisors warned Trump of the serious implications of using the military — as he contemplated — to confiscate voting machines and declare martial law. Testimony shows these actions were narrowly averted. Trump battled verbally and physically with the Secret Service in his effort to go to the Capitol riot where the Secret Service determined it was not safe.

Shocking footage released Thursday from the committee showed leaders, including Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on cell phones while hiding out from the Capitol riot, urging the Department of Defense and the acting secretary to either come to assist with the riot or tell Trump to call off the insurrectionists. Remarkably, the defense official was hesitant, reluctant and said they didn't have certain authorities to do anything.

This is what the downfall of a democratic government looks like.

This call for help wasn't a partisan act. Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell and Sen. Charles Grassley can be seen listening to the phone call. Ultimately, Vice President Mike Pence calls for more security and help and notifies the congressional leaders they can go back to the Capitol to finish the electoral vote certification.

And then they did and saved American democracy. Delaying the vote may have given insurrectionists an opening to violently stop it.

Trump knew people's lives were in danger. He led the charge to dismantle American Democracy and continued in an unhinged behavioral breakdown. All of this has been testified to under oath before the committee.

If Trump would like to tell his side of the story, the committee is all ears. But he will most likely not appear but rather drag out challenges to the subpoena as long as he can.

The committee's work can be turned over to the Justice Department for possible criminal prosecution of Trump and associates. The committee made clear it believes democracy is at stake.

"We are obligated to seek answers directly from the man who set this all in motion," said Cheney, the panel's vice chairwoman. "And every American is entitled to those answers. So we can act now to protect our republic."

The committee has laid out the facts in the case of the serious threat to the American democracy. Saving that republic is now up to the American people.