Republicans still standing with Trump

Many shift blame to Dems, media after each crisis

WASHINGTON — They fume privately at President Donald Trump’s coziness with the Russians. They wince almost every time he tweets. They talk among themselves about what might have been with another Republican in the White House.

Yet even as each new crisis seems like it might be the event that moves GOP lawmakers away from Trump, key Republican leaders and rank-and-file members circle the White House, protecting the president from attack and shifting the blame to Democrats and the media.

Tuesday brought the sternest test yet of Republican willingness to stand with the president, as multiple news organizations reported that Trump had asked then-FBI Director James Comey to drop the bureau’s investigation of former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn.

The news — denied by the White House — hit a Congress that already was stunned by Trump’s firing of Comey last week and his sharing of intelligence with Russian diplomats.

Whether the latest allegations will prove to be the tipping point for more GOP lawmakers remains to be seen, but initial reactions suggested many were standing behind the president.

Sen. Richard Burr, the Senate intelligence committee chairman who had voiced frustration over Trump’s information-sharing with the Russians, cast doubt Tuesday on news reports that Trump tried to stop the Flynn probe.

“I actually believe the director might have told us that there’d been a request like that and it was never mentioned by him,” said Burr, R-N.C. “So somebody’s going to have to do more than have anonymous sources on this one for me to believe that there’s something GOP Sen. Richard Burr, left, chairman of the Senate intelligence committee, and ranking Democrat on the panel, Sen. Mark Warner, address the media Tuesday in Washington. there.”

Rep. Louis Gohmert, RTexas, said it “almost sounds like fake news.”

But centrist Rep. Carlos Curbelo, R-Fla., said if the Comey allegations are true, “it would be deeply, deeply troubling, disconcerting and it would open a new chapter of scandal.”

Any acknowledgment by Republicans that Trump’s actions are unacceptable would lead to inevitable questions about what Congress plans to do about it. And Republicans don’t appear ready to answer that.

Few Republicans have joined Democrats in seeking a special prosecutor or independent panel to investigate the Trump campaign’s possible ties to Russian meddling in the 2016 election — much less the calls for impeachment.

While a handful of GOP lawmakers voiced rising concern with Trump’s behavior, many stood by the president.

“This man is subject to more criticism than anybody, any predecessor that I know of,” said Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah. “It was a remarkable election and they can’t stand it, so they’re going to do everything they can to destroy him. It’s just that simple.”

Republicans are loathe to derail their opportunity to make good on promises to cut taxes, repeal Obamacare and undo federal regulations as they control the White House and Congress. They know a Trump White House embroiled in scandal and investigations would be effectively crippled, and already the GOP legislative agenda has been overshadowed.

Democrats, appalled by Trump’s behavior, are pushing Republicans to move beyond partisanship.

“The country is being tested in unprecedented ways,” said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. “I say to all of my colleagues in the Senate: History is watching.”

Many GOP lawmakers continue to blame the media for treating Trump unfairly.

“He is, I think, having a volatile ride from a media perspective, but the underlying policies that I think are good for the country — tax reform, health care reform, rolling back the regulatory agenda of the past administration — all of these have a very consistently positive impact,” said Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C.

Others could not easily put an optimistic spin on the concerns churning from the White House.

“These are daily — well, not daily, hopefully, but seems like lately daily — distractions, and you just have to manage around it,” said No. 3 Republican Sen. John Thune of South Dakota. “We’re proceeding according to plan, but less drama on the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue would be a good thing.”

MARK WILSON/GETTY