Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) on Saturday inadvertently admitted what all of those impeachment attempts against former President Donald Trump were really about. Of course, she didn’t say anything people didn’t already know, but it was an admission nonetheless.

During an appearance on MSNBC’s “The Weekend,” the lawmaker discussed the upcoming presidential election and lamented the fact that the Senate never went through with impeachment proceedings against the former president. She alluded to the reality that if he had been convicted in the upper chamber, he would not have been able to seek the presidency again.

“I go back to the responsibility of Congress here because had the Senate actually gone through with the impeachment of Donald Trump, we would not be in this situation. I remember Mitch McConnell giving a speech that sounded like he was going to vote for convicting, but he didn’t,” Jayapal said. “It really, it is the thing that worries me, upsets me the most about the situation that we are in is we have to have accountability work.”

At the time, McConnell was the Senate Majority leader and had endorsed Trump ahead of his 2020 loss. Still, he issued a speech that clarified, “criminal behavior will never dominate the United States Congress,” and went through with certifying the election for Biden. Later, McConnell claimed there wasn’t enough time for an impeachment trial against Trump before his presidential term ended. In a way, this protected Trump from the consequences of being an impeached politician, as they are barred from holding public office afterward.

“If there isn’t accountability for what Donald Trump did on many levels, on January 6, you know in this trial, in every possible way then that will send a message to Americans about what’s okay in this country,” Jayapal said.

The lawmaker also asserted that the former president continues to “incite further violence” during his various legal battles.

At the time, it was quite obvious that Democrats wanted to impeach Trump even after he was out of office because they knew there was a better-than-zero chance that he would run for a second term in office, a scenario they dreaded. Convicting Trump was always a longshot, but Democrats were still holding out hope that the Senate would remove their most feared opponent from the playing field.

Since this didn’t happen, Democrats have moved on to Plan B, which involves inundating Trump with a barrage of politically motivated indictments intended to influence the outcome of November’s election. By weaponizing government against the former president, they hope to tie him up in legal proceedings to impede his ability to campaign. Even further, if at least one of the cases against him results in a conviction – especially one resulting in jail time – they would increase the odds of ensuring a second term for Biden.

Additionally, Democrats also teamed up with anti-Trump Republicans to try to have the former president’s name removed from the ballot in various states using the 14^th Amendment to disqualify him. However, the Supreme Court shut down that strategy completely, leaving them only with the prosecutions.

Despite his legal troubles, Trump is tied with President Biden in the most recent polls, suggesting that the effort to use lawfare against him is not working as intended.