Five years ago today, a large group of supporters of Donald Trump — who had just lost the 2020 election to Joe Biden — gathered near the White House to rally in support of their beleaguered leader. He urged them to help “stop the steal” by marching to the U.S. Capitol, where the outgoing president would meet them, and together they would “fight like hell” to prevent Congress from certifying Biden’s victory.
This mob of Trump supporters soon beat back police officers at the Capitol, entered the building, disrupted the business of certifying the election, and forced members to flee the compound through secret underground tunnels. Yet these participants in a would-be coup were unsuccessful. They eventually gave up their search for Congress’s leaders (not before defecating on their desks), were escorted off the property by Capitol police, and the election for Biden was officially recorded in Congress.
Shortly after this, the Justice Department, then led by staffers appointed by Trump, beg…
