In this recording, embedded below, Trump lawyer William Consovoy tells Judge Denny Chin that if President Donald Trump were to shoot someone on Fifth Avenue, he could not be investigated for the murder while in office. The context is oral arguments in Trump v. Vance, one of the legal efforts to get Trump, a famously unscrupulous and bankruptcy-prone businessman, to publicly disclose his tax returns.

Here is Trump's lawyer, William Consovoy, telling Judge Denny Chin that if Trump were to shoot someone on fifth avenue, he could not be criminally investigated while in office. Very normal argument. pic.twitter.com/xlDBwmCUnR — Erick Fernandez (@ErickFernandez) October 23, 2019

To most Republicans, Trump is the country. The suggestion of him doing something "wrong" is already meaningless except as a threat to them. Working with him is possible, if you're not part of the in-group, but working with them is pointless. They're either in or they're out.