What about the Sedition Six?
Apart from manifesting their own unique basket of deplorables in Congress, what else do Representatives Andy Biggs, Mo Brooks, Matt Gaetz, Louie Ghomert, Marjorie Taylor Greene and Scott Perry have in common? I’ll give you a hint. It involves January 6, 2021. I’ll give you a further hint. It involves the Fourteenth Amendment.
If you guessed that each of the above lawmakers requested a pardon from Donald Trump for any connection to the January 6 Capitol attack, you would be correct. My question to the universe is this. What do they know that we don’t? My next question is this. Why aren’t they being criminally investigated at this time?
Now, I don’t want to appear ungrateful for all the marvellous indictments that are going around. When the new year dawned in January I never dreamed that Donald Trump would be facing four separate indictments comprising 91 felony counts by July, and an imminent criminal trial as early as October and no later than March of 2024.
I furthermore had no idea that some of my favourite arch villains — like Rudy Giuliani, Sidney Powell and Mark Meadows — would be indicted and fighting for their lives in the halls of justice. I’ve been dining out on those little schadenfreude sandwiches for several weeks now.
So like I said, I don’t want to look a gift horse in the mouth, but what about the Sedition Six? You know, 2 Bs, 3 Gs and a P? What about them? How come they get to escape justice? Or do they?
Article 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment is very clear on this topic. “No person shall be a … Representative in Congress … [having] engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the [United State], or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof.” [Italics mine]. That sounds like another description of the Sedition Six.
It seems to me that there is a simple solution to this problem. Each of the Sedition Six comes up for re-election in 2024, and each (as far as I know) intends to run again. Their position on the ballot must either be denied by the Secretary of State of their respective states, or a suit to remove them must be filed. Once out of Congress they need to be criminally charged for their part in January 6, if any.
There are two things very wrong with the current American political system. The first is money. Too many people enter politics in the United States as relative paupers only to emerge a few short years later as millionaires. The other is membership in Congress seems to inoculate them against criminal prosecution. If we eliminated these twin attractions it seems to me that many of the disgusting thugs who run for Congress in the first place wouldn’t bother. Think George Santos. Think Lauren Boebert.
Once the Trump mess is cleaned up by the likes of Fani Willis, Jack Smith, Letitia James, Alvin Bragg, et al, sweeping reforms to prevent such deplorables from ever coming near the levers of power need to be enforced and put in place. Otherwise it is going to keep happening. And, as ever, ladies and gentlemen, brothers and sisters, comrades and friends, stay safe.
Robert Harrington is an American expat living in Britain. He is a portrait painter.