In the 2.5 years since the assault on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2017, Congress passed a bipartisan bill to repair the loopholes in the convoluted electoral process that Donald Trump exploited in his attempt to remain in power after losing the 2020 election.
All candidates for key election positions in swing states who supported Trump’s campaign to cancel the 2020 election were defeated in the 2018 elections. In addition, federal prosecutors charged the former president with four felonies for his role in the conspiracy to invalidate President Joe Biden’s election last week.
The prosecution, along with a second federal indictment accusing Trump of mishandling classified information after leaving office, has given conservatives greater impetus for a plan to take over the U.S. Department of Justice, despite the fact that these avenues for electoral interference may be blocked or severely limited in 2024.
If Trump were to win the presidency for a second time, democracy experts are concerned that this could signal a new attack on the American system.
“The incentives for him to move in that direction will be even stronger, and we should worry even more about the degree of control he’ll attempt to wield over federal law enforcement,” said Brendan Nyhan, a political scientist at Dartmouth College and co-director of Bright Line Watch, an academic group that monitors democracy in the U.S. “We have many examples from other countries demonstrating the dangers of a political takeover of law enforcement.”
Moreover, there are other threats to American democracy besides a federal police control. In a study conducted by the Associated Press in October of 2018, nearly sixty percent of Republican voters stated that Biden did not have the right to be elected, confirming the myth that Trump won the 2020 election. Due to this belief, election officials have received death threats and millions of people have developed a dread of voting machines, mail ballots, and vote tallying.
Donald Trump stated in a social media post on Sunday that he will request a change of venue and ask the federal judge presiding over the case alleging he attempted to manipulate the 2020 presidential election to recuse himself.
“NO WAY I CAN GET A FAIR TRIAL, OR EVEN CLOSE TO A FAIR TRIAL, IN WASHINGTON, D.C.,” Trump wrote in all caps on Truth Social. “THERE ARE MANY REASONS FOR THIS, BUT JUST ONE IS THAT I AM CALLING FOR A FEDERAL TAKEOVER OF THIS FILTHY AND CRIME RIDDEN EMBARRASSMENT TO OUR NATION, WHERE MURDERS HAVE JUST SHATTERED THE ALL TIME RECORD, OTHER VIOLENT CRIMES HAVE NEVER NEEN WORSE, AND TOURISTS HAVE FLED. THE FEDERAL TAKEOVER IS VERY UNPOPULAR WITH POTENTIAL AREA JURORS, BUT NECESSARY FOR SAFETY, GREATNESS, & FOR ALL THE WORLD TO SEE!”
Judge Tanya Chutkan of the D.C. District Court, who was appointed by former President Barack Obama and affirmed by the U.S. Senate by a vote of 95-0, has handed down some of the harshest sentences to Jan. 6 defendants thus far. In regards to sentencing offenders responsible for the attack on the Capitol, she has refrained from making some of her federal bench colleagues’ harshest criticisms of Trump. Chutkan was designated arbitrarily to preside over the case.
Trump had previously indicated on Truth Social that a fair trial would be “impossible” in Washington, D.C., and that it should instead be conducted in “the politically unbiased nearby State of West Virginia!” In the statement, he claimed that D.C. was “over 95% anti-Trump,” presumably referring to the city’s vote in the 2020 presidential election, which went 92% to 4% for Biden over Trump.
Trump’s reasoning has been repeatedly denied by federal courts in Washington, D.C., which have dealt with other politically sensitive cases stemming from the January 6 attack on the Capitol. Numerous Jan. 6 defendants have attempted to have their cases shifted out of Washington, D.C., on the grounds that the city’s liberal leanings make it difficult for Trump supporters to receive a fair trial.