An earlier version of this story misstated Psaki's previous occupation. It has been corrected.
A lot of people in the media have referred to Jack Smith's "Jan. 6th investigation," but it is clear that the likely incoming indictment against Donald Trump is about a lot more than just that day's insurrection attempt, former White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said on Saturday.
Psaki, who spent time in the Biden administration before joining MSNBC, said on Saturday that, while the timing of the indictment stands with special counsel Jack Smith, "there is one thing we can all do while we wait: Stop calling it 'the January 6 investigation.'"
"Horrific as that day was, this case is about more than just Trump’s role in fomenting an insurrection," Psaki wrote. "Trump engaged in a sprawling and systematic effort to steal the 2020 election. We have heard and seen evidence that these efforts included defrauding the American public, subverting democratic institutions and coordinating a pressure campaign at the local, state and federal level to overturn the will of the people."
Trump and those who support him tried to "co-opt the Justice Department for political purposes," according to Psaki. "They submitted fake elector slates, recruiting and directing Trump supporters to forge paperwork and falsify information. They created a massive and allegedly fraudulent fundraising campaign to solicit donations based upon a lie."
After all of that is when Trump allowed the mob to take over the Capitol, according to the article.
"And finally, many of them, including Trump himself, stood idly by as a mob desecrated the Capitol and threatened to hang America’s vice president," Psaki wrote. "The attack on our nation’s capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, was one of the darkest moments in our nation’s history, but Trump’s efforts to steal the 2020 election were far more expansive. And as we reflect on how to prevent history from repeating itself, we need to talk about the totality of his actions."
