During an appearance on MSNBC on Wednesday, U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade said that Donald Trump could face manslaughter charges for his role in the violent January 6 insurrection that left 7 people dead and hundreds injured.
McQuade’s assertion came as she and several panelists discussed potential criminal charges the former president could face in the weeks ahead.
The law expert said Trump and his associates could not rely on free speech arguments to protect them from criminal charges.
“If you can make that connection that this was a planned attack, you could supersede that seditious conspiracy indictment to add Trump or [Roger Stone] or anyone else who was involved in the planning,” McQuade said.
“The other thing that is coming clear to me is there is a potential charge here against Donald Trump for manslaughter,” she explained, referring to the seven deaths connected to the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
“Knowing that this crowd is armed, he has a duty as the president of the United States, as the commander-in-chief to take care that the laws be faithfully executed, to call off that mob and do everything he can to stop it. Instead, he sits idly by during those 187 minutes.”
McQuade said that she anticipated evidence of manslaughter at an upcoming Jan. 6 Committee hearing.
Watch the discussion below:
