Back to battle lines
Forget the bipartisan hopes, Trump flexed his muscles after midterms with AG pick.
Perhaps it was naive to expect the midterm elections to produce more than a moment of comity where the president and Congress would replace their partisan swords with plowshares.
Not even 24 hours after the polls closed Tuesday, Democrats and Republicans, egged on by the ever combative Donald Trump, had returned to battle stations.
The president ratcheted up the animosity by forcing the long-expected resignation of Attorney General Jeff Sessions and naming as his interim replacement Matthew G. Whitaker, an outspoken critic of special counsel Robert S. Mueller’s investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.
Whitaker wrote an article for the CNN website last year headlined “Mueller’s Investigation of Trump Is Going Too Far.” In an earlier interview televised on the CNN network, Whitaker suggested that cutting Mueller’s budget would be an easy way to end the investigation.
The new AG’s expressed bias means he should follow the example of Sessions and recuse himself from any involvement in the Mueller investigation. Sessions’ recusal decision infuriated Trump, who saw it as the ultimate act of disloyalty from a man Trump had expected to shield him from scrutiny. Anyone with basic appreciation for legal ethics knows Sessions did the right thing. His conflict was clear: he admitted meeting with the Russian ambassador while on the Trump election campaign staff.
It’s obvious that Trump has installed Whitaker in the Justice Department to at least manage what the investigation reveals — if it is allowed to continue at all. Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, the only Democrat who voted to confirm Sessions as attorney general, said he believes Trump’s devious ploy has put the nation “on the verge” of a constitutional crisis. We agree. What Trump is doing is an attempt to obstruct justice.
“While the President may have the authority to replace the attorney general, this must not be the first step in an attempt to impede, obstruct or end the Mueller investigation,” said Sen. Mark R. Warner of Virginia, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee.
Trump has been on a tear ever since learning Tuesday night that the Republicans had lost control of the House. He tried to appear unfazed at the start of an unusually long 90-minute press conference Wednesday, but with each probing question by reporters the president became more perturbed.
Asked by CNN’s Jim Acosta if he was afraid of what the Russian investigation might uncover, Trump called the reporter “a rude, terrible person.” Asked by PBS NewsHour’s Yamiche Alcindor if Trump’s calling himself a “nationalist” at a Houston rally for Sen. Ted Cruz might comfort members of white nationalist groups, the president dismissed her very question as “racist” and wouldn’t answer it.
Trump did say some nice things about House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, coyly expressing his hope that even Republicans would vote for her to succeed Paul Ryan as speaker of the House because she “deserves” it. What Trump really wants is for Pelosi to continue to be a dependable lightning rod to stoke his base with criticism of Democrats.
So, it’s game on. Trump’s reaction to the midterm elections has set the stage for even more intense battles with the Democrats now that they are back in charge of the House.
Meanwhile, the Democrats have made clear they intend to investigate not only Trump’s possible connection with Russian election meddling but also his business dealings and possible violations of the emoluments clause, which prohibits a president from profiting from the office.
Trump’s past tax returns may not stay secret for long. That disturbing thought has prompted him to threaten to retaliate with Senate investigations of alleged leaks of classified information by House Democrats. The casualties of this partisan war, as always, will be the American public.
Pelosi in a news conference Wednesday said she and Trump had discussed issues where Democrats and Republicans could work together, including creating jobs by repairing infrastructure and lowering the cost of prescription drugs. It would be nice to also see Congress fix the Affordable Care Act’s flaws, instead of trying to kill it, and removing the Dreamers from the limbo they have been in ever since the law creating the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program expired.
None of that can happen unless Democrats and Republicans put political interests aside and make the people they represent their first priority.
In the aftermath of an historic midterm election that saw record numbers of voters go to the polls, this country needs leadership from Washington that would build on that energy to take the nation to an even higher level of cooperation and productivity. Instead, we’re seeing more political games with no apparent purpose other than to keep the truth from being revealed.