George Conway Details Trump's 'Gravest Crime' For Criminal Prosecution
Former President Donald Trump should be investigated under the “closest possible microscope” for his attempts to overturn the 2020 election and his involvement in the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, conservative attorney George Conway told MSNBC’s Chris Hayes on Tuesday.
“This is gravest crime you could imagine that a president could commit. If you don’t at least look at this with the closet possible microscope, you are basically saying that a president is completely above the law,” said Conway, a vocal Trump critic who is married to former Trump White House counselor Kellyanne Conway.
“This is about the Constitution basically being destroyed,” he added. “And if the Justice Department doesn’t use every available resource to look into whether or not that should be criminally prosecuted, it would be a travesty.”
.@gtconway3d on why Trump must have his day in court for 1/6:
“This is gravest crime you could imagine that a president could commit. If you don’t at least look at this with the closet possible microscope, you are basically saying that a president is completely above the law.” pic.twitter.com/yArx3zygt6— All In with Chris Hayes (@allinwithchris) January 19, 2022
Earlier in the segment, Conway said that there are “any number of theories by which [Trump] could be potentially held criminally liable for this stuff.”
This included a federal law that makes it illegal to corruptly obstruct, influence or impede any official proceeding (such as the counting of Electoral College votes on Jan. 6, 2021, that was disrupted when a pro-Trump mob stormed the Capitol).
“The question is, did he try to obstruct, influence, conspire ... or impede that proceeding?” Conway asked. “Yes, he did. Did he do it corruptly? Well, let us count the ways.”
“He lied his ass off for two months about the election. That seems pretty corrupt. He tried to coerce his vice president ... that seems pretty corrupt,” Conway continued.
“And given the fact that what he was trying to do here — whether he was doing it corruptly or not, or with the intent to incite violence or not — he was trying to end constitutional democracy in the United States, which he was sworn to preserve, protect and defend. There isn’t a greater crime that could have been committed by the president of the United States.”
Attorney General Merrick Garland said earlier this month that the Justice Department would do everything in its power to pursue wrongdoing “at any level” to defend democracy.
“The Justice Department remains committed to holding all Jan. 6 perpetrators, at any level, accountable under law — whether they were present that day or were otherwise criminally responsible for the assault on our democracy,” he said.
More than 700 people have been charged in connection with the attack on Congress, including 11 members of the right-wing Oath Keepers group who were indicted last week on seditious conspiracy charges.
This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.
