Letter to the Editor: The truth will prevail
To the Editor:
Anyone who has viewed the public hearings conducted by the House Select Committee investigating the January 6 attack to overthrow the outcome of the most secure election in our country’s history could only conclude that Mr. Pat Ward is correct in his assessment of Donald Trump’s behavior, while Mr. Lowell Engle’s defense is misguided.
What makes the Committee’s activities so powerful and persuasive to any fair-minded American is that the majority of evidence presented has come from members of Trump’s own party who supported his election and served in his administration. These include his Attorney General William Barr and his White House counsel Pat Cipollone.
The picture they paint is one of Trump and his acolytes trying to orchestrate the overthrow of the duly-elected President. The findings include:
Trump refuses to acknowledge he lost the election, ignoring compelling evidence that the election was legitimate, and tried to use the Justice Department to interfere in the election certification.
He pressured officials to falsely “find” just enough votes to overturn the results of Georgia’s election.
He pressured state officials to retract voting certificates and create fraudulent documents.
He pressured Vice President Pence to violate his oath of office to further the coup.
He called angry people including members of violent groups to come to the Capital and encouraged them to march on Congress to stop the certification process, even though he knew some of them were armed.
He put his own vice president’s life at risk.
Contrary to Mr. Engle’s incorrect statement, he refused to call on law enforcement or national security personnel to put down the insurrection.
And finally, Trump took no action to save those being harmed by the violence for over three hours, even though numerous people (including Fox News personalities) urged him to do so.
The impact of the hearings appears to be breaking through to the public. A recent CNN poll found that 79% of Americans think Trump acted illegally (45%) or at least unethically (34%). A majority of Trump’s party (55%) also agrees that he acted unethically or illegally, and 61% believe he encouraged violence.
If we wish to continue to live in a country that is governed by the rule of law and that believes democracy is better than autocracy, we need to support candidates who have the courage to tell the truth and who will defend our constitution.
Thomas W. Hill
Lansing
