Garret Miller of Texas was just sentenced to 38 months in the federal hoosegow for a variety of January 6-related offenses, including making threats against the life of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. His defense attorney Clint Broden thanked U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols for not imposing the even harsher forty-eight month sentence sought by the Department of Justice, noting, “It should be always be remembered that, although Garret is fully responsible for his individual actions that day, his actions and the actions of many others were a product of rhetoric from a cult leader that has yet to be brought to justice.”

The identity of the “cult leader” is of course the disgraced former president of the United States, Donald Trump, who is also the front-running favorite to be the Republican Party’s candidate for president in 2024. Reporters in the court room noted no objection to Mr. Broden’s remarks. It’s become routine for January 6 defendants to demonstrate their remorse by declaring in court that they were taken in by Trump’s flurry of lies about supposed election fraud. In some cases, this is mere pretense and an effort to get a lesser sentence. In other cases, it reflects a sincere realization that Trumpism operates as a malignant cult. Either way, the point is that putting January 6 rioters in jail may be fair and just, but not if the organizers of the coup plot are never brought to justice.

Inside federal courtrooms, even courtrooms with Trump-nominated judges presiding, it’s still perfectly normal to state these truths plainly and without fear of contradiction. I find that comforting. It’s a thin reed that I cling to.