'This is treason squared': Legal expert aghast Trump tried to keep security forces away from the Capitol
Former federal prosecutor Glenn Kirschner broke down the significance of new reporting from the January 6 Committee's first day of hearings.
Specifically, Kirschner focused on details of how former President Donald Trump refused to summon a security response to the attack on the Capitol.
"This was a plan, a scheme," said Kirschner. "This was not a riot or a crowd that got overenthusiastic and sort of spun out of control, and I can't wait to see more information in the coming public hearings about the meeting in the Oval Office between Trump, Flynn, Giuliani and Powell. I'm quite sure the J6 committee has some information about that. They are going to present.
The plan had been hatched, and Donald Trump was implementing it. Come to D.C. on January 6th. It will be wild."
"The other word ... that you heard yesterday was war," said Kirschner. "Why does that become important? Well, where is that word prominently featured in the big ugly blue book of federal laws, the United States Code, the crime of treason, and every time I heard war, my mind went back to treason which is a very short and simple statute. Whoever, owing allegiance to the United States, like the president, levies war against the United States, is guilty of treason."
Trump refused to call off the attack, he refused to authorize the deployment of any forces to go to the Capitol to fend off the attack, to protect the people in the U.S. Capitol that he set his angry mob on," said Kirschner.
But you know what, this begins to feel not — not just like treason but like treason squared."