House Democrats, joined by 10 Republicans, have rightly voted to impeach Donald Trump on a charge of “inciting violence against the government of the United States.” But while impeachment supporters point to the January 6 attack on the Capitol as the basis for the charge, neither they nor the public should lose sight of the fact that the incitement of violence of which the president is guilty goes past that one act, and indeed continues into the present. Donald Trump has also apparently incited a larger violent insurrection against the United States; a new federal joint intelligence bulletin states that the attack on the Capitol itself is now expected to be a “significant driver of violence” for armed militia groups and racist extremists who are targeting the presidential inauguration next week.” In other words, the president lit a fuse that led to one explosion, and that explosion is now anticipated to lead to further cascades of violence.

In a week’s time, this violent insurrection will be wholly autonomous from the cause of “stopping the steal” and keeping President Trump in office. The attack on the Capitol may well turn out to have been the tip of the iceberg of a wave of terrorism. All the more reason to punish Trump after he’s out of office. Indeed, as former Department of Homeland Security official Juliette Kayem writes, ensuring that justice is imposed on a post-presidential Donald Trump may be essential to combatting the white nationalist terrorism he has helped unleash.