“We need to prepare for the eventuality that the Mueller probe catches President Trump, family members and associates red-handed — and Republicans in Congress refuse to do anything about it.
This is beginning to look like a possible or even probable outcome. With a cravenness matched only by its arrogance, the GOP is Trump’s party now. It no longer has any claim to be Lincoln’s.
[…]
The Trump presidency poses a challenge beyond politics or policy. Wrongheaded trickle-down tax policy is a matter of arithmetic; it can be corrected by moving numbers around a spreadsheet. But once corruption has become established, it takes herculean effort to root it out; once respect for the rule of law is lost, it takes generations to restore.”
Opinion | What if Mueller catches Trump — and it isn’t enough?
And it’s more likely the rule of law, once lost, can never be restored.
Prosecutors are accusing Manafort and a longtime associate they linked to Russian intelligence of repeatedly contacting two members of a public relations firm and asking them to falsely testify about secret lobbying they did at Manafort’s behest. …
Manafort allegedly took action that would not only be a serious felony to add to the long list of charges but also would present powerful evidence of a guilty mind in the other crimes for which he has been indicted.
Needless to say, innocent people don’t ordinarily resort to falsifying evidence to prove their innocence. Come to think of it, neither do they draft exculpatory statements falsely explaining a meeting before the election with a Kremlin-linked lawyer and their son, son-in-law and campaign chairman. And yet, multiple denials that the president had anything to do with such a statement (explaining the
purpose of the June 2016 Trump Tower meeting) are now lies we learn.
The official story is that Trump
did draft the untrue statement — during an FBI investigation, an investigation into Russian collusion. Manafort is not alone in his recklessness, it seems.
Thanks to Manafort and to the president’s assertion that he cannot obstruct justice (and to boot can pardon himself), we now have public attention focused on the crime of obstruction of justice, which is serious for any private individual and a fatal breach of the president’s oath to “take care” that the laws are faithfully executed. Even Republicans are fessing up that obstruction is a really big deal, whether a president can be prosecuted in office (or after office) or “merely” impeached.
If Mueller does have credible proof of obstruction, how would Republicans wriggle out of voting to convict?
Opinion | Why it’s essential to go after Trump for obstruction of justice
