Former Bush ethics lawyer turned Minnesota Democratic Senate candidate, Richard Painter warned that the US could fall into dictatorship if our rule of law is not protected by Congress.
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Painter was asked by Ari Melber how he separates the serious legal claim in the Trump attorney letter to Mueller from the hyperbole.
He answered on MSNBC’s The Beat. “I want to emphasize, this is not hyperbole or distraction. We have a former federal prosecutor, who has openly referred to the president of the United States murdering a political opponent and getting away with it. That doesn’t happen in the United States of America. We’re not going to allow that to happen. No, we’re not a banana republic, that’s not going to happen here, and he’s wrong in saying the president could get away without being criminally charged. We’re not going to tolerate that attitude, and that’s why the House and the Senate judiciary committee need to be investigating this administration now. We could fall to a dictatorship if we’re not vigilant about enforcing the law in this country. We can’t just wait for Robert Mueller to get around to his indictments. He’s doing his job; he’s doing it diligently. Robert Mueller is addressing a small fraction of the criminal violations. The United States Congress is doing absolutely nothing. This is a serious situation.”
The stakes for US democracy have not been this high since World War II
Painter was correct. The United States has never faced an internal threat to its existence this severe since the Civil War. The country hasn’t faced an overall threat this fierce since World War II. Trump isn’t just someone who tweets with dictatorial tendencies. He really believes that he has unlimited power and is above the law. America doesn’t just need a Democratic Congress as a partisan or policy balance to Trump. The country needs a Democratic to protect democracy.
When the president starts tweeting about his “right” to pardon himself, democracy is under threat.
It is time for the American people to wake up, stand up, and get to the polls to save our freedoms.
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Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
