There is only one question for senators to ask when voting whether to convict: Would the mob have attacked the Capitol with the Congress sitting in session, but for then-President Donald Trump’s lies that the election was stolen and his direction on Jan. 6 that they march on the Capitol?

U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney answered that question a month ago: “The president of the United States summoned this mob, assembled the mob, and lit the flame of their attack. Everything that followed was his doing. None of this would have happened without the president. The president could have immediately and forcefully intervened to stop the violence. He did not. There has never been a greater betrayal by a president of the United States of his office and his oath to the Constitution.”

Trump’s actions in the weeks following the election and on Jan. 6 were an abuse of power unlike anything we have ever seen. It will be craven cowardice for Republicans to put Trump before country.

Mary Ann Lynch
Cape Elizabeth