Trump committed crimes in plain sight – and even his supporters are victims: columnist

Donald Trump committed one of the crimes he's accused of right out in the open for all to see, according to a new analysis.

The twice-impeached president was indicted Tuesday for a third time, with this case involving efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss. But Washington Post columnist Philip Bump argued that Trump made clear all along that he intended to exploit the gap between counting votes cast on Election Day and the final tabulation of all votes, including ballots cast by mail, to pretend the election had been stolen.

"Had this been the culmination of Trump’s effort to retain power, it would have been obvious and polarizing, but it would not have been criminal," Bump wrote. "But the culmination was still months away. Over that ensuing period, Trump tried, with increasing obviousness and decreasing connection to reality, to stay president. He fought his loss even after law enforcement and the military had managed to reclaim the U.S. Capitol from violent supporters he’d enlisted to his cause. And he did it all right in the open, as the country watched in alarm or excitement, depending on the trench in which they sat."

Trump had threatened for months to do exactly what he's accused of doing after the Nov. 3, 2020, election, and Republican officials infamously decided to humor his efforts to fight his loss in court as harmless grievance ventilation, even when he and his allies openly discussed plans to subvert the certification of Joe Biden's victory, Bump said.

"We saw the fake electors and we saw the riot and we saw a pillow salesman show up at the White House with plans to declare martial law," Bump wrote. "We watched all of this and — those of us who were not snookered into believing that the election was stolen or who weren’t willing to delude ourselves into accepting some alternative narrative about the election being 'rigged' — wondered why there were no apparent consequences."

Trump has already been indicted for business fraud in New York and for mishandling classified documents in Florida, but both of those cases involve behind-the-scenes efforts to keep potentially criminal actions hidden from view. This latest indictment covers violations of the public trust committed in plain view over weeks and months, Bump said.

"What makes Trump’s third indictment different is that we saw what the grand jury felt constituted a crime unfold in front of our eyes," Bump wrote. "What makes it different is that we were all the victims of the alleged criminal behavior. All of us, every American. Even Trump’s supporters."

"What makes it different is that, for the first time, there may be actual consequences for what Trump tried to do," he added.