The jury is not out yet, but for former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, the January 6th Committee is making the case that a conspiracy to overturn the election “undoubtedly existed” and included efforts from then President Donald Trump.

“The breadth and the depth of the conspiracy that is being revealed is kind of shocking,” Holder told Errol Louis on “Inside City Hall” Tuesday. “I think this is headed in the direction that it is ultimately going to include the president.”

“Prosecutions have to occur here. Not only to hold people accountable, but to make sure this doesn’t happen in the future. There has to be a deterrent impact,” Holder added. “We can’t say, ‘alright, you’re a former president and we don’t prosecute former presidents,’ because 20, 30, 40, 50 years from now another president will decide ‘well, I want to stay in power.’”

Prosecutions may have to wait until 2023, Holder said, because of a Department of Justice policy to avoid cases that occur close to elections.

The committee’s efforts to show Trump’s campaign and government advisers tried to convince him the election had not been stolen are particularly damning, Holder argued.

“You cannot simply say that ‘I believed, contrary to everything that people around me said, was true and that I just ignored everything else and my belief was a legitimate one,’” Holder said. “That is not a defense to a charge and would show he had necessary intent.”

The efforts to call U.S. elections into question in recent years is part of a larger struggle throughout history of the push and pull over the right to vote, Holder explained as he discussed his new book “Our Unfinished March.”

In the 20th century, “fascism rose not because it was strong, but because the defense of democracy was weak. And unless we are fervent in our defense of democracy here, it could change,” Holder said. “It doesn’t mean there’s going to be a dictator in the United States, but we could have elections every two years, four years, six years, that are essentially rendered meaningless.”

Holder also called for 18-year terms for Supreme Court appointments and the expansion of the court beyond the nine current justices.