Now, you might say, none of this is all that new. A president who will not liquidate his businesses, who will not cut off receipt of monies from foreign governments, who will not release his tax returns, who will not hire anyone who has publicly criticized him and who will not tolerate those who refuse, as former FBI director James B. Comey did, to pledge loyalty, is by definition a man who places himself above the national interest, the law and the ethos of democracy. Not unlike Russian President Vladimir Putin, Trump adopts the role of mafia don — a man immune from restraints and who can, through intimidation, bend others to his will.

All of this is contrary to the principles that conservatives have bandied about for years. A movement and party devoted to constitutional government, the rule of law, religious liberty (the state does not have dibs on one’s conscience), market economics (not crony capitalism) and democratic values (both civic values at home and defense of the liberal international order overseas) now serve the interests of Trump. They defend, rationalize and normalize his rhetoric and conduct because they haven’t the nerve to speak out.

AD

AD

I had to laugh when CNN reported the reaction of four GOP senators:

“One gets the impression that the President doesn’t understand or he willfully disregards the fact that the attorney general and law enforcement in general — they are not his personal lawyers to defend and protect him,” one GOP senator told CNN. “He has (his) own personal lawyers, and of course, the White House has the White House counsel’s office.” That Republican senator and two others spoke on background with CNN to avoid prompting a fight with the President. Maine GOP Sen. Susan Collins was the only one of the four to speak on the record in response to Trump’s comments about Sessions, acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe and former FBI Director James Comey as well as his venting about the special counsel investigation into Russian attempts to influence the 2016 election.

How, well, pathetic is that? They cannot voice their concerns on the record because … Trump will send out a mean tweet? Seriously, is Collins the only GOP senator not cowering in the shadows?

Republicans wring their hands — or more often shrug their shoulders. What can be done? What choice do we have? That’s the attitude of supplicants toward royalty, not toward free men and women who have taken an oath to defend the Constitution.

The Post, meanwhile, reports, “Some of President Trump’s lawyers are exploring ways to limit or undercut special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s Russia investigation, building a case against what they allege are his conflicts of interest and discussing the president’s authority to grant pardons, according to people familiar with the effort.” This should kill any argument that the president has nothing to hide or that the Russia story is “fake news.” Now is the time to head this off — before the president acts and throws the country into a constitutional crisis.

AD

AD

All 100 senators should sign on to a letter vowing to defend the Justice Department and the FBI from political manipulation and intimidation. Republicans should be crystal clear that they would consider firing the special counsel to be an abuse of power, an impermissible obstruction of justice. They should lay down their own marker, their own red line, for a change. Next, House and Senate Republicans must get serious about oversight into Trump’s and his family’s ethical conflicts and potential violation of the emoluments clause. They should hold hearings. Subpoena documents. Hold him to the ethical and legal standards that every prior president has followed. That would undercut the Trumpian presumption that if Trump does it or wants it, it’s legal and appropriate.

Republicans are not bystanders, but rather, part of a coequal branch of government. We are hurtling toward a constitutional standoff. If Republicans cannot fulfill their oversight role, it’s time to leave — or at least turn off the crocodile tears.