Trump's crime quite damaging

To the Editor:

“All I want to do is this. I just want to find 11,780 votes.”

That’s what Donald Trump said to Georgia’s secretary of state when he was pressuring him to illegally overturn the 2020 presidential election results in the state of Georgia.

This is just one piece of the evidence that led a grand jury of everyday Georgians to indict former President Donald Trump and key allies –– including his lawyers Rudy Giuliani and John Eastman and White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows — on 41 criminal charges for attempting to overturn the results of the 2020 election in Georgia. 

Trump led a criminal conspiracy that included 18 co-defendants and 30 unindicted co-conspirators to commit fraud and illegally reverse the will of Georgia voters, even though Trump and his team already knew he’d lost.

When all else failed, the Jan. 6 insurrection was Trump’s last desperate attempt to cling to power. Elected officials and law enforcement officers were attacked, simply for doing their jobs — acting on the will of the people and certifying the election results. It was violent, destructive, and in some cases, fatal. 

There can be no more serious crime than a conspiracy to overturn the foundation of our democracy itself: the vote of the American people. Fame, fortune, and former office cannot and should not prevent someone from standing trial and being held accountable for their crimes. 

Gregory Spock