US President Donald Trump warned fellow Republicans at a party gathering on Tuesday that if Democrats retake control of Congress in the November midterm elections, he would be impeached a third time. As it happens, Trump’s second impeachment was related to his actions exactly five years ago today.

On Jan. 6, 2021, the US Capitol was stormed by Trump’s followers. They had heard him repeat false claims of a stolen election and many sought to stop the peaceful transfer of power to Joe Biden, the winner. Some of those followers, federal prosecutors later alleged, wanted to capture and kill members of Congress. In scenes unprecedented in American history, lawmakers grabbed gas masks as loud booms echoed across the complex and Congressional security drew firearms inside the chambers of the American legislature as attackers flooded in.

Biden that afternoon called the assault in which several people died and more than 100 police officers were injured an insurrection. Then-Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi called it an “attempted coup” and a “desecration” of the seat of American democracy by “acts of sedition.” The California Democrat promised that “justice will be done.”

In the end, Trump’s impeachment, like his first one, fell short of the votes necessary for conviction in the Senate. And the 1,600 people charged as part of the largest federal investigation in history had their slates wiped clean courtesy of the Republican when he returned to the White House four years later.

Fast forward to last week. Late in the day on New Year’s Eve, Congressional Republicans quietly released the testimony of Special Counsel Jack Smith, the former war crimes prosecutor who had obtained two indictments of Trump. One was for his alleged effort to cling to power after losing the 2020 election.

Smith told Congress that he and his investigators had “developed proof beyond a reasonable doubt” that Trump criminally conspired to overturn the results of that election—and that he was the reason for the Jan. 6 attack.

“Trump was by a large measure the most culpable and most responsible person in this conspiracy. These crimes were committed for his benefit,” Smith said. “The attack that happened at the Capitol, part of this case, does not happen without him.”

Trump’s midterm plea to the GOP today comes amid sagging poll numbers and the party’s failure to renew subsidies allowing millions of Americans access to healthcare. Trump, 79, said the party should be touting his policy priorities—including his immigration dragnet, trade war, efforts to lower drug costs and a tax-and-spending bill that while largely benefitting the wealthy and corporations exempts taxes on tips and overtime.

However, no amount of narrative-setting can convince voters the economy is better or worse than their own experience dictates.(Excepted from a Bloomberg report of a different headline)

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