Trump's Contempt for the Law Is Boundless

Donald Trump has repeatedly, shamelessly, publicly communicated his contempt for the rule of law — and because his party, which holds the majority in the legislative branch, refuses to hold him accountable for this despicable authoritarian behavior, he just continues to escalate.

Martin Pengelly at the Guardian reports:

Donald Trump has mounted another extraordinary attack on his attorney general, Jeff Sessions, blaming him for charges against two congressmen that he said jeopardised Republican chances in the forthcoming midterm elections.

On Monday afternoon, the president tweeted: "Two long running, Obama era, investigations of two very popular Republican Congressmen were brought to a well publicized charge, just ahead of the Mid-Terms, by the Jeff Sessions Justice Department. Two easy wins now in doubt because there is not enough time. Good job Jeff......"

...Trump did not name the congressmen he was talking about. But last month Duncan Hunter, a California representative, was charged with misuse of campaign funds while Chris Collins of New York was indicted for insider trading — over a share tip alleged to have been made in 2017, when Trump was in power.

The two men were Trump's first supporters in the House. Hunter will run for re-election. Collins will step down.

...Trump indicated last week that he would fire Sessions after the midterm elections, a move some observers said might presage the firing of deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein and the special counsel, Robert Mueller, whose work on links between Trump aides and Moscow has circled ever closer to Trump's inner sanctum.

Some senior Republicans have indicated they would accept a move against Sessions, which would echo the infamous "Saturday night massacre" carried out by Richard Nixon against top law enforcement officials during his downfall in 1973.

There is nothing I can say that I haven't already said a thousand times before in a thousand different ways. This president is an authoritarian nightmare, and his party is eager to consolidate power behind him as quickly as possible.