The Other 147 "Unindicted Co-Conspirators
According to the most recent Federal indictment filed by Special Prosecutor Jack Smith, Donald Trump, bent on staying in power, undertook a "criminal scheme" to overturn the results of the 2020 election, including repeatedly pushing lies about election results, despite knowing his claims were false, and doubling down on those falsehoods as the Jan. 6 riot raged.
The details of this criminal scheme are many, but central to its existence is that it has emerged as a conspiracy involving, at very least, six individuals with common intent and coordinated action — the “6 unindicted co-conspirators” who participated in the planning and execution of the coup attempt.
We’ve learned recently that there was a lot more to the story than we first knew. For example, the coup strategy had multiple elements to it, including “fake elector” slates; specious lawsuits in every state; pressuring Pence to not certify Biden’s election win; and the unending, still-happening, promotion of the Big Lie that Trump was the real winner of the 2020 election. And of course, the violent siege on our nation’s Capitol on January 6th.
To carry out this multi-faceted plan, many people had to be involved. Although ultimately unsuccessful, the effort required the facilitation of communications between Trump and right-wing militias groups “standing by” to do his bidding. This coordination was apparently aided by Roger Stone and Steve Bannon (both of whom had recently been pardoned by Trump, rescuing them from prison for crimes they committed against the United States). Of the previously un-named (but now known) “6 unindicted co-conspirators,” at least 5 are lawyers — lawyers apparently willing to trade their integrity and risk their careers for a chance at historical relevancy, and perhaps future fame, at the risk of infamy.
Yet, it begs the question: how many more people might have been involved in this assault on our nation’s most revered institution, the vote? How many more actual “unindicted co-conspirators” are there in total? And will they ever be held accountable? Or will justice settle for holding Trump and a small handful of important co-conspirators accountable, just so we can move on and try to forget the unforgivable?
We may find that all told, the managerial level of co-conspirators numbers only a couple dozen individuals, including the likes of Roger Stone and Steve Bannon. It’s unlikely to include influential news media allies like Tucker Carlson, who clearly was (and still is) “aiding and abetting” the insurrectionists by continuing to mischaracterize and misrepresent what happened on January 6th.?It’s possible that at some point, Stone and Bannon will be picked up and charged for their roles in the criminal conspiracy. Tucker Carlson might skate. But in any case, nothing is imminent.
Indeed, a multitude of low-level arrests have already taken place. To date, more than 1,000 people have been charged for storming the capitol on January 6th. Most of them either already are or likely will be in prison by the time Trump is found guilty (let’s assume that he will be).?But what about others who helped plan and execute the coup attempt?
What about the 147 Republicans in the Senate and the House of Representatives who voted NOT to confirm Joe Biden’s win? They knew that Biden had won, and they cast these votes regardless — after the storming of the capitol building by the MAGA rioters, as soon as it became safe for the House to reconvene. Are these 147 not “unindicted co-conspirators” as well??Wasn’t their role, however seemingly insignificant (next what others were doing) an essential part of the conspiracy? Those “no” votes were cast to buttress the planned coup. Why should these 147 unindicted co-conspirators escape accountability?
Consider the position that these in-government conspirators were in. They had one job to do: vote against confirming Joe Biden’s win, in order to delay the confirmation proceedings. As the rioters breached the Capitol building, their violent assault overwhelming security, these 147 anti-democracy Republicans had to assume that the other elements of the conspiracy were going as planned. They also had to assume that as a result of a successful coup, Trump would ultimately be sworn in as President and their deceit-fueled votes to deny Biden’s win would be shielded from any negative consequences, thanks to what they assumed would be a new MAGA administration.
Had any of the 147 gone rogue and opted not to go along with the conspiracy plan, voting instead to confirm Biden, they would have instantly called into question their loyalty to Trump and the rest of the co-conspirators. Given the uncertainty of that moment, and their very possible foreknowledge of what was about to transpire, these 147 elected officials had little choice but to perform their roles in the conspiracy — to delay the official electoral confirmation proceedings and kick the final decision on who would become President back to the GOP majority in the House. Their lot with the MAGA insurrectionists was already cast. They were counting on the eventual success of the coup. Obviously, it didn’t work out that way.
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The role of the 147 GOP Senators and House members who played their part in the attempted coup has largely been ignored, so far. And it does make obvious sense that the Department of Justice would focus initially on the coup’s core participants, eventually getting to the rest of the insurrectionists. So be it, but let’s not forget the seemingly minor, while in fact significant role that these 147 Republicans in Congress played in the insurrection.
If Trump and the (so far) “6 unindicted co-conspirators” are eventually brought to justice, in addition to the thousand rioters from January 6th, then surely the long arm of justice must eventually wrap itself around Stone, Bannon, and all 147 GOP Congresspeople who abandoned their oath of office, and determined that gaining power by breaking the law was preferable to accepting the results of a lawful election and the will of the voters.
The NY Times printed a full list of the 147 Republicans in the United States Congress who fulfilled their roles in the attempted coup. Here is a short list of some of the coup’s most vocal and enthusiastic co-conspirators in Congress:
This rogues gallery, along with the other 127 who knowingly participated in the attempted coup are the other currently “unindicted co-conspirators.”?Will they ever be pursued as such by the Department of Justice? Probably not. But that doesn’t mean their actions should be normalized. At very least, every single one of them should be turned out of office by the voters in their respective states. Far from being the “patriots” they profess themselves to be, they sided with those trying to undo the will of the voters — the bedrock of our democracy.?
If the DOJ doesn’t have the bandwidth to hold them accountable, then it will be up to the voters come election day. But either way, they need to be held accountable. That will be the ultimate proof that our democracy is alive and well.
(To participate in extended discussion, this article also appears on?my Daily Kos page)