For all of its ability to twist and pervert the political process to suit its needs, it's amazing that some members of the Republican Party never quite seem to learn that basic fact of political reality: It's not the scandal, it's the cover up.

Politico reports that Trump's flunkies in Congress have had just about enough of all this asking of questions and finding of facts concerning not only an attack on the United States by a foreign power but almost certainly collusion by, if not the president, then people in his administration, with that foreign power:

ADVERTISEMENT Thanks for watching! Visit Website

Loyalists of President Donald Trump are losing patience with Republican leaders over the wide-ranging Russia probes creeping into his inner circle, saying House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell have allowed the investigations to hobble the White House for months.



Congressional investigators, say some lawmakers and state GOP leaders who back Trump, have let the probes — and the media coverage they generate — sidetrack the president as his allies, family members and aides are hauled in for questioning about whether Russians had American help in their quest to tip the 2016 election against Democrat Hillary Clinton.

ADVERTISEMENT Thanks for watching! Visit Website

ADVERTISEMENT Thanks for watching! Visit Website

These are the same people, mind you, that led eight(!) investigations over two plus years into the killing of 4 Americans in Benghazi for purely partisan reasons. Back then, eight(!) investigations that produced exactly no evidence of criminal activity seemed like a perfectly reasonable number. Now we're only a few months into three different probes producing varying degrees of evidence (damning, very damning, and "Get a lawyer, you're going to jail") and certain Republicans are sweating bullets, demanding the probes be shut down in favor of more politically useful investigations:

But the even-handedness is partly what’s infuriating Trump’s most zealous supporters. They want their colleagues instead to probe more deeply into issues that could harm Democrats — from allegations about mishandling of funds by the Clinton Foundation to revelations that former FBI Director James Comey may have drafted a statement exonerating Clinton in a 2016 investigation before agents had finished witness interviews.

To a reasonable person, that sounds very much like both obstruction of justice and abuse of power. Don't worry, Chris Cillizza will be along soon to tell us why both sides are at fault.

Meanwhile, the reasoning behind their objections to the ongoing probes range from whiny:

Democrats, they complain, surely wouldn’t investigate a president of their own party with as much vigor.“



My friends on the other side of the aisle, they view almost everything through a political lens,” said Biggs, “and Republicans don’t seem to do that as well.”

To tinfoil hat stupid:

Lori Klein Corbin, a member of the Republican National Committee from Arizona, said the probes are a distraction to Trump.“



Of course, the Republican leadership is behind these probes,” she said. “The Republicans cannot get over the fact that Trump won and is our president.”

Let's be honest, if a Democratic president had entered office under the same circumstances as Trump, Republicans would have already tried to impeach them. The fact that Republicans are even investigating the Russian attack is a testament to how severe a threat they perceive it to be even though it benefited them politically. The fact that Trump Republicans are furious at other Republicans for not burying the whole thing tells you just how dangerous a not-insignificant part of the GOP has become. With such reckless disregard for national security and the rule of law so rampant, the days of simple "party over country" are starting to feel nostalgic.

Trump Republicans are badly overestimating their ability to ignore the Russia scandal and control the narrative. This isn't a sleazy sex scandal that David Vitters can ask God to forgive him for and then get reelected. The United States was attacked, is still under attack, and we're getting closer to finding out who aided the enemy and who knew about it. That, by definition, is treason and will be the single greatest political scandal in American history.

If (when) it turns out that Trump and his inner circle sold America out for power and money, all the king's horses and all the king's men and the 24/7 spin of Fox News, AM Hate Radio, Drudge, and Breitbart won't be enough to keep Trumpty Dumpty and his band of Deplorables in office. And all of his Republican supporters are going down with him. No wonder the rats are starting to panic and attack the other rats.

Want to see the ship sink faster? Give Democrats the House in 2018.

There are 33 days left to the the 2017 elections.

There are 397 days left to the 2018 elections.

- This article kills fascists

Please consider becoming a paid member of The Daily Banter and supporting us in holding the Trump administration to account. Your help is needed more than ever, and is greatly appreciated.