Has Trump Gone Too Far?

Demand for an investigation of HIS OWN investigation crossed a "red line" and something you'd expect in a dictatorship

POSTED 5/22/2018

I haven't paid much attention to the various scandals and investigations raging around Trump for a couple of reasons.

First and most importantly, his repugnant policies are much more damaging to the country and the world.  

Secondly, no matter what the various investigations turn up, a Republican Congress will never impeach Trump.  And no amount of scandal, no amount of uncovered corruption will change a single Trump voter's mind.  I understand that we are a nation of laws and that justice must be pursued - all I'm saying is that it will not make a whit of difference in the mid-terms or the 2020 presidential election.

For those interested in the scandals (or at least interested in how they tie together), take a look at The Atlantic's analysis, "There Is Only One Trump Scandal". It argues that the "myriad Trump scandals can obscure the fact that they’re all elements of one massive tale of corruption."

If there are elements of the Trump Scandal and Corruption Circus that get my attention, they are those that imply abuse of power or obstruction of justice.  Both elements are present in yesterday's ranting tweet "demanding" an investigation into his own investigation.  This politically-motivated, possibly justice-obstructing abuse of power is something you'd expect to see in a dictatorship.  Of course, he may, as he has in the past, ignore or mitigate his own words - e.g., the "tariffs".  If not, if instead he doubles-down on this, we all should start paying more attention to his threats to American democracy.*

As Eugene Robinson says in his Washington Post op-ed: "Stop waiting for the constitutional crisis that President Trump is sure to provoke. It’s here."  He continues, "On Sunday, via Twitter, Trump demanded that the Justice Department concoct a transparently political investigation, with the aim of smearing veteran professionals at Justice and the FBI and also throwing mud at the previous administration. Trump’s only rational goal is casting doubt on the probe by special counsel Robert S. Mueller III, which appears to be closing in.  Trump’s power play is a gross misuse of his presidential authority and a dangerous departure from long-standing norms."

What is the big deal about this particular rant, which demands an expanded investigation into his claims of FBI wrongdoing as it relates to his campaign?  Like so many of Trump's rants, it is based on no evidence whatsoever.  Besides having both abuse of power and obstruction of justice elements, Trump's tweet further erodes Department of Justice norms.  Former AG Eric Holder tweeted: "More DOJ norms being eroded. Trump-a SUBJECT of the investigation-wants access to material related to the inquiry. His Congressional supporters want evidence connected to an ongoing investigation. Time for DOJ/FBI to simply say no-protect the institutions and time tested norms."

Deputy Attorney Rod Rosenstein, the Deputy AG in charge of Mueller's Russian investigation, perhaps in a bid both to save his job and to avoid a Trump shutdown of the investigation, offered Trump a PR victory by agreeing to an internal investigation into the matter. 

"But this is a dangerous game, and in the short term it may only embolden the president. Just think about it from Trump’s perspective: He crossed what has long been seen as a red line on Sunday, and not only did he not pay any consequence but also he got at least some of what he wanted. In referring his demand to the inspector general, Rosenstein gave credence both to the ideas that there was something nefarious in the Russia probe’s launch and that it is acceptable for a president to demand a counter-probe into a Justice Department investigation." (Washington Post, May 22)

*Mother Jones capped this excellent running record of Trump's authoritarianism on April 5. They wrote: "After more than 14 months of daily documentation here we have capped this timeline, as Trump continues to attack and politicize the US “Justice” Department, go after “stupid” corporations he dislikes, blast the media as “sick,”praise a conservative local TV network for a “fake news” script, lie about DACA policy, call for militarizing the US-Mexico border, reiterate wildly false claims of voter fraud, and bizarrely defer to Russian dictator Vladimir Putin. We will continue to report on Trump’s further accumulation of anti-democratic actions elsewhere in Mother Jones."