Add Peggy Noonan to the list of conservatives who are dismayed that the majority of Republicans in the U.S. Senate are likely going to give Donald Trump a pass for inciting a riot at the U.S. Capitol, with the former Ronald Reagan speechwriter writing they will then be complicit in the assault on democracy.
In her column for the conservative Wall Street Journal, Noonan said there was no way that Republicans who sat and watched the presentation given by House impeachment managers -- including never-seen-before video of the violent assault -- can deny that the ex-president had a hand in the riot.
And yet, as she wrote, they seem willing to look the other way and not convict the former president.
As the Journal's headline for her column stated: "A Vote to Acquit Trump is a Vote For A Lie."
"The second impeachment trial of Donald Trump has been a rout for the pro-impeachment side. They made the case through time-stamped videos and close argumentation, and their timeline linked in an undeniable way the statements of the president on 1/6 and the actions of the rioters who stormed the Capitol. Democratic floor managers were at their best when they were direct, unadorned, and dealt crisply with information and data, as they did most of the time," she wrote before adding, "It is hard to believe his lawyers will argue his innocence of the charge that he incited a crowd to move on Congress and thwart its certification of the 2020 election. Everyone knows he did that."
Criticizing how supporters of Trump have run to conservative media to defend the president -- and saying they have failed, Noonan said the ultimate blame for everything in many ways falls on Republicans who are betraying their oaths to office.
As she wrote, Trump as well as everyone who invaded the U.S. Capitol deserves to be punished to the fullest extent of the law.
"I do not see how Republican senators could hear and fairly judge the accumulated evidence and vote to acquit the former president," she explained. "If we want to keep it from happening again, all involved must pay the stiffest possible price. That would include banning Mr. Trump from future office."
Noonan added, "History will see 1/6 for what it was. Those who acquit are voting for a lie. Conviction would be an act of self-respect and of reverence for the place where fortune has placed them."
Noonan's column comes on a day when Politico released an interview with former Trump administration official Nikki Haley, who said it was a mistake to continue to "follow" Trump and that he likely has no political future.
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