Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R–Ky.), who excoriated then-President Donald Trump's conduct before and during the January 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol, nevertheless voted to acquit him after he was impeached for that conduct. By that point, Trump had left office, and McConnell said he had concluded that the Senate did not have the constitutional authority to convict a former president. But he added that Trump could still be "held accountable" for his "unconscionable behavior" in criminal or civil court.
The criminal referrals from the select House committee that investigated the Capitol riot, which released its final report on Thursday, hold out the same hope. But that hope is probably vain, because the charges that the committee suggested entail knowledge and intent requirements that will be difficult to prove.
