It may be up to voters to stop Donald Trump
WASHINGTON >> Keep calm and raise hell. The forces of truth and justice may be closing in on President Trump, but there is no reason to believe they can triumph without massive displays of outrage in the streets and at the polls.
Potentially the most serious threat Trump has ever faced came last week when FBI agents raided the office, home and hotel room of his longtime personal lawyer, Michael Cohen. By all accounts, Cohen’s role for the president and the Trump Organization has been that of a “fixer” who brings in deals and makes problems go away.
For more than a decade, Cohen was in a better position than anyone — arguably, even Trump’s children Ivanka, Donald Jr. and Eric, who also worked in the family firm — to know the intimate details of Trump’s business dealings.
Was the Trump Organization buoyed by an influx of Russian money, as Donald Jr. once claimed? Were there Russian contacts that have not yet been disclosed? Did Trump or his campaign collude with Russians to meddle in the election? In its real estate sales, did Trump’s firm take the required precautions against money laundering by shady characters? Did Trump’s swashbuckling business style, of which he so often boasts, ever cross the line into illegality?
Cohen can likely provide answers. If necessary, FBI agents may refresh his memory with the audio recordings they allegedly seized of Cohen’s phone conversations.
“Attorney-client privilege is dead!” Trump tweeted after learning of the raid. “A TOTAL WITCH HUNT!!!” Touchy, touchy.
On the rare occasions when federal authorities raid an attorney’s office, they must go through elaborate and rigorous procedures. A judge has to approve the search warrant, which requires a showing that evidence of specific crimes will likely be found. The Cohen raid was authorized not by special counsel Robert Mueller but by the office of the U.S. attorney for the southern district of New York. None of this is good news for Cohen — or for Trump.
The other development is the scathing verdict on his character delivered by former FBI director Jim Comey in a newly published book and an interview with ABC News.
In his book he writes about Trump making repeated demands for a pledge of personal loyalty and about wholly inappropriate attempts to interfere in the Russia investigation. In the ABC interview, Comey charged that Trump was “morally unfit to be president.”
Comey said there is “some evidence” that the president committed obstruction of justice. Asked by George Stephanopoulos whether he believes the Russians “have something” on Trump, Comey replied, “I think it’s possible.”
For those of us who agree with Comey’s judgments about the president and welcome the viselike pressure on Cohen, all of this is emotionally satisfying. But so what?
The White House asserted last week that Trump has the power to fire Mueller, and clearly he would love to do so. Trump could fire Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, and install someone more pliant.
Would this Congress stand up to him? Massive demonstrations across the nation demanding action might work — but might not.
The only sure way of guaranteeing that this aberrant administration is investigated, held accountable and properly restrained is to put Democrats in control of one or both houses of Congress. A new Washington Post poll shows that the Democratic edge over Republicans ahead of the midterm election has narrowed. Instead, it needs to grow.
Only you and I can stop Trump. It’s all about November.