Republican leaders complicit in election lies

As the Jan. 6 Hearings have revealed, you were duped. Trump is a fraud. He made a fool of himself and tried to make fools out of all the people he tried to fool. The whole claim of election fraud was a myth, a made up story. Republican legislatures’ silence on this fraud is what caused the attack on the Capitol and the attempted overthrow of our government.

These Republican legislatures either think this is what a politician does and this is the way to play the political rules, where any way to cling to power is acceptable; or they did not know it was a myth, believed the lie and were ignorant of the facts. In any case why did not these, our Republican leaders, acknowledge it was a lie and encourage the public not to believe the lie? Were they really too ignorant to know where to look for reliable answers to what was happening, or were they so simple-minded they’ll believe anything?

They are guilty of the attempted overthrow of the government just as a person is guilty as an accomplice to a murder if they could stop it but did nothing. They were disloyal to our country for political gain from the enemies of our government, our people, and our constitution. They disgraced the oath they took to defend, bear true faith and allegiance to the constitution from all enemies foreign and domestic. They will live with that disgrace forever.

Joel Wells

Iowa City