See-no-evil Congress
CONGRESSIONAL Republicans have been operating under a see-no-evil policy with President Donald Trump: ignoring his lying, and attacks on government institutions or, when that’s not possible, dismissing such outrages as bluster – Trump being Trump.
This brazenly partisan act became even more strained on Tuesday when his long-time lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen implicated him in criminal activity. Cohen asserted in a plea deal with prosecutors that, in the closing weeks of the 2016 campaign, Trump directed him to use illegal campaign contributions to pay hush money to two women who said they had sex with him.
Also this week, Trump’s former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort was convicted of bank and tax fraud. While criticising Cohen, Trump tweeted that, by contrast, he had “such respect for a brave man” like Manafort, who “refused to ‘break’ … to get a ‘deal’. ” The president felt moved to praise a convicted felon. How did Republicans in Congress react? John Cornyn, the majority whip, shrugged that he had “no idea about what the facts” of Cohen’s guilty plea were. The office of House speaker, Paul Ryan, said it needed “more information.” Most members opted for silence.
Even by this standard, Republicans’ behaviour is beginning to look like masochism if not madness. When Trump’s party members pooh-pooh his thuggish rantings they are inviting him to act out even more.
They simply need to stop cowering. An obvious first step is for Congress to pass legislation protecting Robert Mueller’s Russia inquiry – the bane of Trump’s existence. He has toyed with the idea of firing Mueller and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, moves that would ignite a constitutional crisis. Lawmakers delude themselves thinking he won’t consider such radical acts again as his predicament grows more dire.
Groundwork for a bill to protect the Russia investigation has been laid, with a bipartisan plan having passed the Senate Judiciary Committee. Shamefully, Mitch McConnell, Republican majority leader, refused to bring the bill up for a vote, insisting it is unnecessary because Trump would never fire Mueller. Ryan spouted similar assurances. Then again, he laughed off the idea Trump would strip his political critics of their security clearances. Republican leaders are not the best barometers of this president’s thinking.
Ryan needs to shut down the attacks on Rosenstein by Trump’s lackeys in the arch-conservative Freedom Caucus. Earlier, Mark Meadows and Jim Jordan threatened to force an impeachment vote on Rosenstein. When that flopped, they set their sights on holding Rosenstein in contempt of Congress. If successful, it would provide Trump an excuse to replace Rosenstein with a lap dog.
NEW YORK TIMES