It's not the crime, it's the cover-up. And compared to Watergate, from which the saying sprang, the cover-up involving text messages around Jan. 6 makes Nixon and his taping system seem like jaywalking.

Secret Service agents are one thing, but the top officials in DHS? And their excuse is an agency-wide replacement of mobile phones? When everyone in the federal government knows the law requires preservation of all records? Were they all convinced that Trump would remain in office, despite polls indicating otherwise?

None of this is a coincidence, obviously, or even merely the ineptness that pervaded the Trump Administration. They appear to have destroyed evidence they knew would be critical to investigations of the coup.

Are there enough lawyers in DC to defend yet another likely wave of criminal suspects?