Trump and his GOP Congress: Complicit in crimes against democracy

Rudy Giuliani, the newest addition to President Trump’s legal defense team, has added his voice to the list of Republicans demanding that Special Counsel Robert Mueller wrap up his investigations of the president and those around him, claiming, as did Vice President Pence last week, that there has been no finding of proof of “collusion” or “obstruction” and that the probe has “gone on long enough.”

Their argument is fallacious for so many reasons that it is difficult to know where to begin. In a year, the Mueller investigation has already resulted in 20 indictments of individuals and corporations, and several convictions, including guilty pleas, from some of the people closest to Donald Trump. There is zero chance that Mueller will slow down or end his investigation now.

While Trump and his associates like Giuliani increase their attacks on Mueller, the special counsel continues to doggedly proceed, preparing more of the criminal charges he has so successfully already made.

Trump and his associates are trying to give the impression that the probe has been going on forever and has nothing to show. Compared with prior probes of presidents, however, this investigation has been relatively short. The investigation of President Bill Clinton in the Monica Lewinsky affair went on for four years, and the investigation of President Ronald Reagan in the Iran-Contra affair lasted seven.

Almost daily more dirt is exposed, and it is likely Mueller is already in the know on almost everything that comes out. This includes the recent revelation that Trump’s lawyer Michael Cohen had been paid hundreds of thousands of dollars by the oligarch Viktor Vekselberg between January and August of 2017. We know Mueller has interviewed that oligarch, and we know of course that the FBI has raided Cohen’s home and offices, so it is likely they have a lot more knowledge about the money he raked in from Vekselberg than do we.

Early in the Trump presidency, we heard that the Steele dossier, the one that contained all the salacious material about Trump and the prostitutes in Moscow, was nothing but a lying scandal sheet. At first, much of the media bought into that description of the dossier. Thus far, however, not one bit of the dossier has proven false and almost every week more of it is revealed as having been entirely accurate. At this point, one can hardly consider unreasonable any of the assertions in the dossier, including one of the most explosive: that Michael Cohen was running the Trump-Russia coordination and that as part of that he was paying off the hackers.

When everything points to your guilt, however, a typical response is to question the people doing the investigation into your affairs. That is what Trump is doing now, both directly and indirectly through his surrogates.

On Sunday, David Nunes, the Trump water carrier running the House Intelligence Committee, said on Fox that Attorney General Jeff Sessions should be held in contempt of Congress. This is because the Justice Department is refusing to hand over documents requested by the Republicans.

The Republicans are trying to force Rod Rosenstein, the deputy attorney general in charge of the investigation, to hand over documents that will interfere with the Mueller investigation or maneuver Rosenstein into rejecting their requests in such a way as to give President Trump the pretext with which to remove him. Trump has tweeted regarding the subpoenas issued by the Republicans that he will “get involved” if the matter is not solved to his satisfaction. “They don’t want to turn over documents to the Congress. What are they afraid of? At some point, I will have to use the powers of the presidency and get involved!” Trump has threatened.

Al of this is nothing less than Republican and Trump complicity in a move to undermine the rule of law. Democrat Adam Schiff is correct when he says the the strategy is to slander the investigators and cast so much doubt on them that, no matter what they produce, the public will not believe all the awful details they reveal.

One of the saddest things about all of this is that we have Trump and a group of men running the country that give a damn only about saving their own necks. There is no concern for democracy or rule of law—none whatsoever. The president, the leader of the so-called “free world,” is openly advised by his lawyers not to talk to or answer the questions of the special counsel. Why? Because they know he will either perjure himself or, if he accidentally tells the truth, implicate himself in serious crimes. It is sad too that his entire party, the Republican Party, allows this to continue. The GOP’s only concern, too, is saving its own neck and holding onto control of Congress and the White House. What a shameful legacy these men will leave.

There is only one way out of this disaster. They must all be turned out of office this year in the 2018 midterm elections.