Nina L. Khrushcheva deplores spineless Republicans who have been silent on Trump’s clandestine activities, plunging the country into an abyss and prompting public outrage. This situation reminds her of the 1960s, when the dissident poet Alexander Galich wrote about” the mute complicity of Soviet apparatchiks in Joseph Stalin’s crimes.” During the Great Purge in the 1930s instigated by Stalin millions of Russians “were detained or died in the Gulag.”

The author understands the Republicans’ muted reaction to all the damaging revelations regarding Trump’s abuse of power. “Those who were silent became the bosses, because silence is gold,” Galich wrote. “Keep silent, you will be on top.”

While Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and fellow Senator Lindsey Graham are obsequious to Trump for their own political interests, the author says it is inexcusable that George W. Bush and other high-profile Republicans like James Baker, and Dick Cheney remain silent on Trump’s disastrous preidency. Little wonder, Bush’s two wars had squandered so much of America’s blood and treasure in Iraq and Afghanistan, “badly damaged America’s international standing.”

Their loyalty to “Republican values” since the “Reagan era – low taxes, light regulation, and social conservatism – has made them complicit in the harm that the Trump administration is inflicting on America and the world.” The anonymous op-ed in The NY Times in September 2018, was penned most likely by a Republican, declaring that “I am part of the Resistance,” but it did little “to assuage our concerns about Republican silence.” While criticising the Trump administration, the anonymous author touted “that many of its policies have already made America safer and more prosperous.”

As arrogant and big-headed as Republicans are, they refuse to realise the wealth gap and social inequality that had emerged on their watch. So “the prosperity claim is questionable, and Trump’s disastrous foreign policy – even more than George W. Bush’s – has cost America the world’s trust and respect.”

Instead of speaking out against Trump, those - Michael Flynn, H.R. McMaster, former Secretary of Defense James Mattis, and John Kelly, former White House Chief of Staff - who had served him, prefer to reveal their secrets in books, reaping pecuniary gains on their stint in office. John Bolton knows that he is an important witness in the ongoing impeachment inquiry. But he also prefers to disclose his time in office in his upcoming book.

Indeed, “these silent ‘resisters’ want us to believe that they put their country first, when in fact Trump’s presidency was further dividing both the US and the world.”

Some Congressional Republicans realise that Trump is deeply flawed, but their voters do not. They have been brainwashed by right-wing media outlets that demonise Democrats, who question Trump’s legitimacy. They want to make sure that their representatives in Congress defend Trump in this “witch-hunt.” Most Congressional Republicans find Democrats’ agenda extreme and seek to prevent a progressive candidate like Bernie Sanders or Elizabeth Warren from winning in 2020.

What some Republicans fear is punishment from their Trump voters, should they come out against him, who sees it as an act of treason. Republicans will never forgive a traitor and he or she doubts whether Democrats will give them any credit for their civil courage. Next year 22 Republicans have to defend their seats in Senate, against 12 Democrats. Many prefer to remain loyal to Trump and silent on much he does, sacrificing their moral integrity to defend an indefensible president.

While they attack the impeachment process they are also watching how national support for Trump has been eroding significantly. While Democrats move forward they also know that Trump’s removal also depends on public opinion among Republicans in 20 red or purple states. In most such places, at least for Congressional Republicans, the political cost of criticising Trump remains high. Growing support for Trump’s impeachment has generally resulted from the hardening of existing opposition, but not the wearing away of support in the GOP.