Lily Verren, Campus Carrier staff writer
Former President Donald Trump and his affiliates are currently under investigation for several accusations, including inciting an insurrection by the Jan. 6 Committee, violations of the Espionage Act by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and tax fraud by the state of New York.
Incitement of insurrection, in context, refers to the encouragement of rebellion against the authority of the state, or in this case specifically, the U.S. Congress. There is debate over whether the situation at Capitol Hill was an attempt at insurrection or not, which prompts questions about the other accusations involved, such as ‘conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding.’
Abigail Vegter, assistant professor of political science, said that even though some of the charges may be small, the results may still be important for Americans.
“A key part of democracy [is] that no one is above the law,” Vegter said. “I would like to think that regardless of who this was, that anyone would be investigated.”
It will be difficult for the Jan. 6 committee to prove the accusations of inciting insurrection, partially because of the protections afforded by the First Amendment and protected political speech.
“There’s regular speech that’s protected by the First Amendment, and then there’s political speech,” Eric Sands, associate professor of political science, said. “Political speech is typically afforded the highest level of protection under the Constitution. You wouldn’t want to be limiting that speech in any significant way, but we have recognized that there are limits to free speech. One of those limits is inciting people to violence, so the hard part is that we have to parse his words.”
During a Washington D.C. rally on Jan. 6, Trump said, “I know that everyone here will soon be marching over to the Capitol building to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard.”
The committee’s ninth hearing will likely be the final public presentation of investigative findings before the committee writes its report. Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss), chairman of the House Jan. 6 Committee, told the Just the News media brand that “[The committee] might release some interim information, but the final report will come after the election.”
In addition to the Jan. 6 Committee, the FBI searched Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s primary residence since 2019, on Aug. 8, and found 48 empty folders marked as ‘classified’, according to the inventory that the Department of Justice filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.
Trump spoke on Fox News Channel’s segment “Hannity” in regards to the documents that the FBI invesitagtion is concerned with.
“There doesn’t have to be a process, as I understand it,” Trump said. “You’re the president of the United States, you can declassify just by saying it’s declassified, even by thinking about it.”
In August 2022, Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg, took a plea deal in New York and agreed to testify against the organization in the future if called.
Alvin Bragg Jr., district attorney for Manhattan, said, “This plea agreement directly implicates the Trump Organization in a wide range of criminal activity and requires Weisselberg to provide invaluable testimony in the upcoming trial against the corporation.”
On Sept. 21, New York Attorney General Letitia James filed a lawsuit against Trump and the Trump Organization. The lawsuit included allegations that Trump and other affiliated parties exaggerated Trump’s net worth.
“There are not two sets of laws for people in this country; we must hold former presidents to the same standards as everyday Americans,” James said in a press release.
Vegter believes that the smaller investigations may be a strategic way of getting the truth of the larger accusations.
“There is no doubt that there is some shady stuff that’s happened behind closed doors, and that’s a fact of politics,” Vegter said. “When it comes to the actual charges, I think what we see is people throwing a lot of things at the wall to see what will stick.”
How people felt about Trump before the investigations influences the investigation’s importance to them, according to Vegter.
“Frankly he’s out of office,” Vegter said, “If you like him, you may be angry about these investigations. If you don’t like him, you may be ambivalent, because he, in theory, doesn’t have power anymore.”
That applies to the Jan. 6 committee, as well. According to Sands, the committee should be a bipartisan group, with representatives of both sides involved, if not a nonpartisan attorney with the powers of subpoena.
There are a lot of variables at play that will likely affect the long-term effects of Trump’s presidency upon U.S. politics.
“I would be very surprised if Trump ever went to prison,” Vegter said. “It’s really going to depend on who’s in power and how their decisions play to their base. This is going to be dependent on what happens in 2024, especially with the presidential race.”
As for the political ramifications of Jan. 6 and the resulting investigations, Sands said findings will likely be divisive.
“To people on the left, this is a truth finding committee that is trying to ascertain what really happened behind the Jan. 6 incursion into the capital,” Sands said. “To people on the right, it’s a show trial. It’s going to show that Trump was responsible for trying to launch an insurrection to overthrow the United States.”
Sands said that half the country is going to point towards the results as proof, and the other is going to dismiss the results entirely.
When it comes to Jan. 6 itself, Vegter said policies are being created to prevent a repeat of events.
“There are people on both sides of the political aisle coming together, identifying [the Jan. 6 insurrection] as extremely worrisome for our democracy, and trying to take active steps to prevent it from happening again,” Vegter said. “So, we are already seeing some shifts in policy.”