Trump broke his pledge to nation

Opinion editor's note: Editorials represent the opinions of the Star Tribune Editorial Board, which operates independently from the newsroom.

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Donald Trump's political rise began on a lie.

He gave a significant boost to birtherism by falsely claiming that then-President Barack Obama was not born in the U.S. When he launched his run for office, he led with inflammatory claims about immigrants and a false claim that Mexico would pay for a border wall.

Once elected, he lied about the size of the inauguration crowd, previewing a presidency of prevarications, big and small. He was impeached twice, the first after he tried to pry favors from a foreign leader — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy — and the second after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

The details revealed then were more than enough for the House to impeach him, and the Senate should have followed with a conviction. The evidence uncovered since — in a series of eight congressional hearings that have been as dignified and diligent as Trump's White House was dysfunctional — has made the case even more convincing.

Before Thursday night, the hearings focused on:

Thursday's hearing, which proved convincingly that Trump did nothing to stop the violence for 187 minutes, should have been must-see TV for every American. Unfortunately, those who need the most convincing may have been watching Fox News, which relegated the consequential hearing to its business channel. But Fox News personalities were mentioned during the hearing. They sent text messages imploring White House aides to get the president to end the Jan. 6 siege by his followers, who were watching Trump's Twitter feed in real time.

The commander in chief not only was a reluctant tweeter that fateful day, he never made a call to law enforcement or the military, either. That led Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley to tell the committee, "You're the commander in chief — you've got an assault going on [at] the Capitol of the United States of America and there's nothing? No call? Nothing? Zero?"

The former vice president could have used one of those calls. His life was in such direct danger from the "Hang Mike Pence" crowd that had built a Capitol gallows that frightened Secret Service agents in his detail were sending goodbye messages to their family members.

Even after the attack on the Capitol — and our democracy — Trump could not bring himself to stop lying. Excerpts from outtakes from a speech he was recording showed an angry Trump saying, "I don't want to say the election is over."

Trump's unrepentant, unceasing advancement of the Big Lie will likely continue into the 2024 race for president, an office he was and is unfit to hold. Just last week, he reportedly tried to convince Wisconsin State Assembly Speaker Robin Vos to overturn that state's 2020 results.

Congress can keep the chaos of the last certification from disrupting the next by passing a bipartisan bill to update the Electoral Count Act.

Republican members of Congress must go further. For too long, most have backed the former president's narrative of the 2020 election and his plans to run again in 2024. If, after these extraordinary hearings, they still believe the Big Lie, they are complicit in it and also unfit for office.

The former president and some current lawmakers may still choose to live the lie. But voters shouldn't, especially when there are still Republicans of honor, integrity and courage like Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney and Illinois Rep. Adam Kinzinger, who have lived up to the oath they've taken.

"Whatever you think about the outcome of the election, we as Americans must all agree on this: Donald Trump's conduct on January 6th was a supreme violation of his oath of office and a complete dereliction to his duty to our nation," Kinzinger said in his closing remarks.

Cheney clarified the high stakes: "We cannot abandon the truth and remain a free nation."

The Justice Department will ultimately decide whether to bring Jan. 6-related criminal charges. But in the court of public opinion, the truth should set every American free from the mendacity of Trump and his enablers.