When Enrique Tarrio, the former leader of the Proud Boys, was sentenced to 22 years in prison this Tuesday for his significant role in the attack on the Capitol, it marked a turning point in the Justice Department’s extensive investigation into the events of January 6th. from 2021.
The conviction ended a series of three federal trials centered on a seditious conspiracy, the most serious crime unearthed after a two-and-a-half-year investigation into the Trump support group that took part in the attack.
But it also highlighted a shift in public attention away from the people who stormed the barricades or broke the windows of the Capitol and toward those in suits who planned to disrupt the vote count or spread lies about voter fraud that ultimately led to violence led.
The effort to bring to justice those who organized the Capitol insurrection was the longest investigation ever conducted by the Justice Department and will likely continue for months or even years with more charges being filed.
But the upcoming trials of former President Donald J. Trump and those accused of helping him stay in power will present a different challenge that will test the resilience and authority of the criminal justice system.
The allegations against Trump are likely to be a stress test of the country’s commitment to upholding the rule of law at a time of intense polarization and cementing Trump’s position as the Republican Party’s presumptive presidential nominee.
And as if more tension were needed, Trump has already shown that he intends to attack the integrity of the process and make it a central part of his campaign by declaring this Wednesday that he plans to take a stand to to assert his own defense.
In some ways, it turns out that it was relatively easy to prosecute people – even if there were more than 1,000 – for attacking police or disrupting the certification of the election.
This is primarily because the attack on the Capitol was a standalone event that can be analyzed forensically, and many, if not most, videos depicting the insurrection exist and the defendants committed these crimes.
However, the trials against Trump — particularly the two he faces on election interference charges filed in Washington by special prosecutor Jack Smith and in Georgia by Fulton County District Attorney Fani T. Willis — will be of a different nature.
They will be embroiled in an unprecedented tangle of legal and political complexity.
