I will never be able to forget what happened to my country on January 6, 2021. That day is burned into my memory, not as a political moment, but as a national trauma.
It was not just a protest that went too far or a crowd that got out of control. It was a direct attack on American democracy, encouraged and driven by Donald Trump. Until the man who fueled that assault is fully held accountable, there can be no closure, no healing, and no pretending that this country is safe from it happening again.
Trump is not just another controversial politician. He is a uniquely dangerous figure, someone who has shown again and again that power matters more to him than truth, law, or human decency. If anyone still needed proof of that, they got it on Wednesday night. On national television, he didn’t speak like a leader trying to steady a nation. He ranted. He shouted. He lied relentlessly. His words jumped from one grievance to another, untethered from reality. Watching him felt unsettling, like witnessing someone lose control in real time. It wasn’t strength. It was instability.
What makes that night even more alarming is what happened just hours earlier. Former Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith testified privately before the House Judiciary Committee. In that closed session, Smith stated that his team had developed proof beyond a reasonable doubt that Trump conspired to overturn the 2020 election. That phrase is not casual language. It is the highest standard in American law. It means evidence strong enough to remove reasonable doubt from a jury’s mind.
So step back and really absorb the meaning of that day.
In the morning, the country learns that prosecutors believe they can legally prove Trump tried to destroy democracy. By nightfall, that same man is screaming at the nation from the Oval Office, portraying himself as a savior while threatening anyone who refuses to submit to his version of reality. That contrast alone should shake every American to their core.
The hearing was closed, and we all know why. If Smith’s testimony had been public, the country would have been forced to confront the full horror of January 6 all over again. We would have been reminded that Trump watched the violence unfold and did nothing. That police officers were beaten while he delayed action. That lawmakers feared for their lives while he waited. We would have remembered how, after it was all over, Trump told the very people who attacked the Capitol that he loved them.
We also would have been reminded of how little was done afterward to protect the country from a repeat. Republicans closed ranks. They minimized the violence. They rewrote history. And worst of all, they helped pave the way for Trump’s return to power.
But the failure does not stop with Republicans. It also rests heavily on the shoulders of President Biden’s Attorney General, Merrick Garland. Garland’s job was not to be cautious. It was not to wait for the perfect moment. His job was to defend the Constitution. And he failed. By hesitating, delaying, and hiding behind procedure, he allowed the threat to grow stronger instead of cutting it off when the country was still reeling from the attack.
I will not move on from this. Ever.
We all watched January 6 unfold in real time. We saw the flags ripped down. We heard the chants. We watched lawmakers run. We saw the blood. And hour after hour passed while the man responsible sat by. We know Trump did this. He knows it. His family knows it. History knows it. It was one of the most disgraceful days this nation has ever seen, and everything should have been done to make sure it never happened again.
Instead, almost nothing happened.
No swift justice. No clear accountability. No unmistakable message that attacking democracy carries consequences.
As someone who served this country and loves it deeply, I refuse to be silent. I demand to know why justice was delayed, diluted, and nearly denied. I demand to know why the man who attacked America is still walking free, still wielding power, still threatening the foundations of this nation. I will keep asking these questions for as long as I live, because a country that shrugs at an attack on itself is a country already hollowed out from within.
Jack Smith has effectively said that Trump is a traitor in legal terms, not just moral ones. So what is a citizen who truly cares about this country supposed to do with that information? Accept it quietly? Pretend it doesn’t matter? Act like this is just another partisan dispute?
And where is Merrick Garland now? Why wasn’t he standing publicly beside Smith? Why wasn’t he answering questions? Why did he disappear into silence after failing the most important test of his career? We are still paying him, even as the consequences of his inaction continue to threaten the country.
For nearly five years, many of us have lived in a constant state of disbelief, trying to understand how this happened. How a man who launched an attack on his own government was not immediately and decisively punished. When Trump announced he was running again, it felt like the ultimate betrayal, not just by him, but by the system that allowed it.
Garland acted as if Trump’s return to politics was shocking, when it was entirely predictable. After years of delay, he finally moved, but only by handing responsibility to someone else. He wrapped his failure in legal jargon and called it caution. In reality, it was surrender.
Had Trump been charged quickly and decisively, his own party would likely have abandoned him. He would not be looming over the country today. The rule of law would have meant something. And future would-be authoritarians would have learned a hard lesson.
Instead, we are here.
Trump is as guilty now as he was on January 6, and more dangerous than ever. He refuses responsibility. He feeds on chaos. He lashes out at anyone who challenges him. He lies openly and dares the country to stop him.
That disturbing television address will not be the last time he hijacks the airwaves to intimidate and deceive. More media outlets are bending to him, and he knows exactly how to exploit that weakness.
If Jack Smith truly has proof beyond a reasonable doubt that Trump led an attack on America, then the public must see that evidence. Not someday. Not quietly. Now. Because if this nation is willing to accept a man who tried to destroy it as its leader, then democracy is not just wounded.
