The wry reference to the Wizard of Oz by “Truthsayer,” an online pundit, ripens on Monday with the announcement of conclusions of the House panel investigating the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol. Among those conclusions will be a referral to the Justice Department to charge former President Trump with conspiracy to incite insurrection.

Whether these charges will come to trial or stand up in court is irrelevant to the referral itself. President Trump was impeached twice during his term in office with no convictions, but the evidence for obstruction of justice still stands and could amplify the same charges aimed at the former President if he goes to trial for insurrection.  In other words, those who escape “witch hunts” may leave a trail that leads to their eventual conviction.

Because if the former President escapes the Justice Department net on the charge of insurrection, there is still the trial for “unauthorized removal and retention of classified documents or material” (18 U.S.C. 1924), which may even reach the daylight of prosecution before the insurrection charges.  The theft of classified documents could be the charges that bring an end to the mythology that Donald Trump has been a victim of political witch hunts of his enemies.

Donald Trump has employed the accusation “witch hunt” since the earliest days of his Presidency. He may owe the strategy to former President Nixon, who parried with his opponents using this term during the Watergate trials:

Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward cited Trump’s laments of a “witch hunt” as they described the “eerily similar confrontation” that Trump had with [Special Counsellor Robert] Mueller and that Nixon had with special prosecutor Archibald Cox.

Trump tweeted about the alleged “witch hunt” of Robert Mueller more than 110 times in 2018 and has been cited for hundreds more deployments since then.  The term harkens back to the infamous Salem Witch Trials of 1692, but gained currency with Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible written during the McCarthy hearings of the 1950’s and later with President Nixon’s attack on his prosecutors.  McCarthy’s investigation proved to be a real modern day “witch hunt,” naming dozens of innocent public figures as “Communists.”  President Nixon’s prosecution ended with his resignation in disgrace.  So witch hunts sometimes uncover modern-day “witches.”

The House panel investigating the events of January 6 has performed a service to the public and to history by bringing reluctant and cautious witnesses to public exposure, and it may yet prove consequential in a trial of ex-President Trump. Like the two previous impeachments, it may result in exoneration with prejudice, i.e. a distinct odor of guilt, but it could also spring a conviction.

What remains to be proven is whether a Tweet campaign, deep pockets, and effective legal representation can keep you out of jail in the United States in 2023.  There is a deep suspicion that money can buy freedom and exoneration in this country, and the most visible celebrity of that suspicion is Donald Trump.  In some quarters he is admired for thumbing his nose at the legal system. He is Donnie the Kid, with assets.

So the ultimate consequences of a House referral are more important than whether the Elusive One escapes another snare. Honest men and women have pursued this man with the tenacity of Inspector Javert (Les Miserables), and their faith in justice is on the line.  Cyrus Vance to Robert Mueller to Jamie Raskin to Elizabeth Cheney to Merrick Garland have played their part in bringing the powerful to justice.

Breaking news: “Witch hunts end when a house falls onto the witch.”