Once again President Donald Trump is mad at Attorney General Jeff Sessions for doing his job. And once again the president — through his postings on Twitter — seems to be attacking the rule of law in this country.
In Trump’s world it’s a bad thing that the U.S. Department of Justice — run by Sessions — has brought criminal charges against two Republican Congressman for their financial crimes. The reason he thinks it’s bad is that it could hurt the GOP in the midterm elections.
The president just can’t seem to get it through his head that the job of the U.S. Attorney General is not to serve as his personal political hatchet man.
On Monday Trump once again attacked the beleaguered former U.S. Senator from Alabama on Twitter, writing:
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“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.”
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……
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 3, 2018
Trump’s comments are assumed to be referring to Rep. Duncan Hunter of California who was indicted on criminal charges for spending $250,000 of campaign funds for personal expenses and Rep. Chris Collins of New York who was arrested for illegal insider trading.
He did not say the two Republicans did anything wrong. He did not criticize the criminal behavior for which they are charged. Rather, he chose to criticize the law enforcement officials who are holding the Congressmen accountable for their misdeeds.
With this one tweet Donald Trump has demonstrated that he does not believe in the rule of law. Â
Perhaps Trump is also subconsciously afraid that the fate of the two Congressmen may soon be his fate as well. After all, if members of Congress aren’t protected from criminal prosecution by their positions, perhaps the President of the United States won’t be protected either. Maybe his day of being indicted and possibly arrested is not too far into the future.
According to the Associated Press,
“The president’s striking suggestion that the Justice Department consider politics when making decisions showed his disregard for the agency’s independence. Trump has frequently suggested he views Justice less as a law enforcement agency and more as a department that is supposed to do his personal and political bidding. Still, investigators are never supposed to take into account the political affiliations of the people they investigate.â€
Former deputy attorney general Sally Yates said in a statement Monday:
“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.â€
What the president doesn’t seem to realize is that all of his words and deeds are under the microscope and being examined to see if they constitute criminal obstruction of justice. Trump’s attacks on Sessions are now part of special counsel Bob Mueller’s obstruction investigation. Every tweet he sends is counterproductive to the larger goal of proving that he has committed no crimes.
Trump’s tweet was heavily criticized by Nebraska GOP Senator Ben Sasse, a member the Senate Judiciary Committee. Sasse wrote:
“The United States is not some banana republic with a two-tiered system of justice — one for the majority party and one for the minority party. These two men have been charged with crimes because of evidence, not because of who the President was when the investigations began. Instead of commenting on ongoing investigations and prosecutions, the job of the President of the United States is to defend the Constitution and protect the impartial administration of justice.â€
In his psychotic derangement the president is lashing out using the only platform that is open to him: Twitter. There is no one to tell him what not to say. There is no one to question what he writes. His tweets are an unfiltered view into his mind, and it is not a pretty sight.
I am a lifelong Democrat with a passion for social justice and progressive issues. I have degrees in writing, economics and law from the University of Iowa.
