It was another week where Trump and Republicans fought against American democracy.
Trump Attacks His Justice Department for Indicting Republicans for Wrongdoing
On Monday Trump attacked his Attorney General, Jeff Sessions, because the Department of Justice has brought charges against two “very popular” Republican congressmen, saying “Two easy wins [are] now in doubt” in the midterm elections.
Last month Republican Duncan Hunter (R-CA) was indicted by a federal grand jury for using more than $250,000 in campaign contributions to pay for personal expenses, and Republican Chris Collins (R-NY) was indicted for insider trading.
As Sally Yates, the former deputy attorney general whom Trump fired, said, “Repeatedly trying to pervert DOJ into a weapon to go after his adversaries, and now shamelessly complaining that DOJ should protect his political allies to maintain his majority in the midterms, is nothing short of an all-out assault on the rule of law.”
Trump and the Republicans Try to Protect Kavanaugh’s Confirmation by Blocking Documents and Protestors
On Tuesday, at the hearings to confirm Brett Kavanaugh for the Supreme Court, Democratic Senators protested Trump’s and the Republicans’ decision to suppress hundreds of thousands of documents regarding Kavanaugh. Republicans are keeping secret more than 90% of the Kavanaugh documents.
Among other things, Democrats want to know about Kavanaugh’s participation as President Bush’s staff secretary in the decision to use torture. Congress had forbidden torture in a bill by the late Republican Senator John McCain, who was tortured during his captivity in North Vietnam. In his hearings, Kavanaugh said that he couldn’t recall what he said in his role as an advisor to Bush.
On Tuesday, reacting to people protesting the nomination of Kavanaugh, Trump proclaimed that “it’s embarrassing for the country to allow protesters.” Because, of course, the right to protest is not part of the U.S. Constitution or U.S. tradition.
Trump Demands that the DOJ Investigate an Anonymous Editorial Criticizing Trump
In an anonymous editorial published Wednesday in the New York Times, an unknown senior Trump advisor said that many administration officials are “working diligently from within to frustrate parts of [Trump’s] agenda and his worst inclinations.” The official said the “root of the problem” is “the president’s amorality.”
After the editorial’s release, Trump said that the Department of Justice should investigate who was the author of the piece because “It’s national security.” No, it’s about Trump’s security. Apparently, that is even more important than prosecuting corrupt Republican congressmen.
Trump Will Try to Block Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s Report
Perhaps it should be no surprise that last weekend Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani said that Trump will try to block the release of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report on his investigation of the Trump administration’s role in Russian interference in the 2016 elections. Blocking the report would be the ultimate obstruction of justice.
It is not clear that Trump can succeed with this, but the mere fact that Trump will try should anger anyone who cares about democracy and justice.