What I Would Have Done: Trump and January 6th

By Patrick Bromley

3/4/2025

 

Shorter Version

First thing; the 2020 Presidential election was not stolen from Donald Trump. He lost. At the time, his Attorney General, Bill Barr, verified it. His daughter Ivanka said so under oath.

 

We know what happened at the Capitol on that terrible day. In the immediate aftermath Republican leaders and even Fox News correctly put the blame on President Trump. Within a couple of weeks those leaders and right-wing media were once again kissing Trump’s ring (also a certain body part?) and trying to shift blame to the Democrats and make excuses for Trump.

 

What should have been done the night of January 6th was the 25th Amendment should have been invoked and Trump removed from office that evening. The man had just instigated an attack on Congress to stop election certification! What was the Cabinet thinking?! Were they just cowards? Perhaps they thought there was just 2 more weeks until Biden’s inauguration and Trump would behave (guess he did?).

 

In the years following the DOJ dragged its feet in attempts to hold Trump accountable for the insurrection. What I would have done is make a deal with these details:

 

  • Trump barred from ever holding office again under section 3 of the 14th Amendment.
  • Concede defeat in the election and stop spreading lies and misinformation about the election.
  • In return, criminal prosecution would not be pursued since it would be a bad look to have a former president on trial and in prison.

 

Whether Trump would have taken this deal will never be known. It is speculated that one of the reasons he ran for office again in 2024 was to get the charges (i.e., Jan 6th, top secret files) against him dropped as he feared prison.

The What I Would Have Done series highlights the actions I advocated when critical events were happening. Of course, any brilliant ideas I had at the time were simply broadcast into the ether and had no chance of being heard or implemented by those in charge.

 

 

 

Longer Verison (for those who want to read additional blathering)

First thing; the 2020 Presidential election was not stolen from Donald Trump. He lost. At the time, his Attorney General, Bill Barr, verified it. His daughter Ivanka said so under oath.

 

Trump is a sore loser. After losing the popular vote in 2016 he claimed fraud prevented him from winning the popular vote. So, he convened a commission to study the supposed fraud and of the over 23 million votes surveyed there were 30 that may have been questionable (source).

 

Onto the post-2020 election time frame; for weeks in December 2020 Trump and his minions continued their lies and encouraged followers to come to Washington DC on January 6th to protest and take action while the election certification was underway in Congress. The build up of tension was palpable enough that I wrote a letter and sent it to the White House email account. I am sure that human eyes never saw this submission, but I was on record predicting violence would occur. Here are some excerpts from my letter sent on 20 December 2020:

 

 

 

 

 

We know what happened at the Capitol on that terrible day. In the immediate aftermath Republican leaders and even Fox News correctly put the blame on President Trump. Within a couple of weeks those leaders and right-wing media were once again kissing Trump’s ring (also a certain body part?) and trying to shift blame to the Democrats and make excuses for Trump.

 

I believe Republican leaders thought it would be the end of Trump’s political career, and most were probably happy about that, even if they kept it to themselves. Though Trump is easily controlled to follow GOP policies, he is a bit of a wild card and often brings embarrassment to the party. However, kicking Trump out of the party would anger his base and the GOP leaders did not want to risk losing MAGA supporters. They probably thought Trump would slink off to retirement and his golf courses.

 

What should have been done the night of January 6th was the 25th Amendment should have been invoked and Trump removed from office that evening. The man had just instigated an attack on Congress to stop election certification! What was the Cabinet thinking?! Were they just cowards? Perhaps they thought there was just 2 more weeks until Biden’s inauguration and Trump would behave (guess he did?).

 

In the years following the DOJ dragged its feet in attempts to hold Trump accountable for the insurrection. What I would have done is make a deal with these details:

 

  • Trump barred from ever holding office again under section 3 of the 14th Amendment.
  • Concede defeat in the election and stop spreading lies and misinformation about the election.
  • In return, criminal prosecution would not be pursued since it would be a bad look to have a former president on trial and in prison.

 

Here are brilliant tweets (that no one noticed) I proposed in June 2022:

 

 

 

 

 

Whether Trump would have taken this deal will never be known. It is speculated that one of the reasons he ran for office again in 2024 was to get the charges (Jan 6, top secret files) against him dropped as he feared prison.

The What I Would Have Done series highlights the actions I advocated when critical events were happening. Of course, any brilliant ideas I had at the time were simply broadcast into the ether and had no chance of being heard or implemented by those in charge.