Frida Ghitis, a former CNN producer and correspondent, is a world affairs columnist. She is a frequent opinion contributor to CNN and The Washington Post and a columnist for World Politics Review. The opinions expressed in this commentary are her own. Read more opinions at CNN.

(CNN) President Donald Trump just called on his attorney general to shut down the Mueller investigation. The only part of this "suggestion" that is more shocking than its brazen effort to obstruct justice is its jaw-dropping timing. Trump's call to end the investigation that targets him and his closest associates comes only hours after we learned that Facebook believes the Russians are already hacking the 2018 midterm elections, as they did ahead of the 2016 elections that produced a victory for Trump.

Trump claims that the probe is hurting America. But the fact is that this is a transparent effort to protect himself from a probe that is closing in, revealing damning information. And it is unfolding against mounting evidence that Russia is already attacking American democracy months ahead of the November election. In fact, Russia never stopped. Why would it? The results of the Kremlin's drive to disrupt the United States and to undercut faith in its institutions are, as the Russians might say , "better than super."

Tragically for the American people -- and for people everywhere who believe in democracy -- the guardians of US democracy are refusing to take action to stop Russia.

I'm referring, specifically, to congressional Republicans, who are watching this assault and refusing to act in defense of their nation.

By now we know we would be delusional to expect Trump to defend US democracy. And he hasn't. Last Friday, he called a national security meeting to discuss Russian interference. The gathering ended in less than an hour, long enough to allow for an official statement saying he would not tolerate interference. But no decisions seem to have been made. No action taken. It was all a show.

The fact is, the President has undercut the conclusions of intelligence professionals and Senate committees that Russia indeed hacked the 2016 election, as it did other elections around the world.

We can guess why Trump refuses to do anything. He might think that vigorously protecting the US elections might lend credence to the well-documented charges that he was the beneficiary of Russia's 2016 operation. There might be more. Perhaps he is hoping that Russia's current campaign will help him survive the November election, where control of Congress will be decided, with obvious consequences for a possible impeachment.

That may explain Trump. But what about Congressional Republicans; why aren't they responding with the urgency this crisis demands?

The Facebook news is not the only evidence of Russian interference.

The risks are not limited to federal races. In Georgia -- where Trump's preferred candidate, Brian Kemp, just won a startling landslide after polls showed him neck-and-neck in the primaries -- a government ethics group has sued the state for failing to ensure fair elections . The Mueller investigation has already uncovered Russian targeting of Georgia's election computers in 2016. But Kemp -- who is not only the Republican candidate for governor, but also secretary of state and thus responsible for the election -- breezily dismissed Russian interference, much like Trump has, as "all a big hoax."

Kemp may not worry, but attorneys general from 21 other states wrote a letter last week imploring Congress for help protecting elections systems. But Congress, controlled by Republicans who act as if they are controlled by Trump, who acts like he is controlled by Russia, refuse to lift a finger to defend the most basic element of democracy, namely clean elections.

Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy is pushing legislation to fund cybersecurity, but he is getting nowhere. In the House, Republicans blocked a vote on increased spending. The Senate Appropriations Committee did the same.

What's behind that united Republican front in refusing to defend the country? Why are Republicans laying down their arms when the attack by the Russians is already visible?

Perhaps they are afraid to upset Trump. Perhaps they are hoping to benefit from Moscow's work. That decidedly unpatriotic stance is not only cowardly, it is short-sighted.

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The Kremlin's tactic of disrupting US elections is aimed at weakening the United States, at inflaming divisions. The Russians find the fault lines, the topics on which Americans disagree -- race, guns, white supremacy, religious differences, immigration -- and inject them with social media poison so the political system is no longer able to resolve disagreements. Russian President Vladimir Putin likely hopes to diminish America's power and influence in the world by cracking the country's unity, making it ungovernable, and turning it into a distasteful spectacle to other countries that might be looking for systems to emulate or allies to befriend. The plan is to make America seem chaotic and unreliable, and democracy turbulent and unappealing. That's the dream of autocrats who feel threatened by real democracy.

In the short run, the Russian scheme may advance by helping Republicans win more seats. But the Russian plot is not pro-Republican. It's anti-America. It's anti-democracy.

By trying to stop the Mueller investigation into the 2016 election, Trump is again helping Russia. By failing to do what's necessary to stop the 2018 Russian campaign, the President and his Republican enablers are again colluding with a hostile power. Whether or not they are active co-conspirators this time is up for debate. But they are guilty of a convenient negligence in the face of an ongoing crime against America.