In the past few weeks, two Republican congressman have been charged and arrested for federal crimes and the president tweeted his outrage about it. He wasn’t angry at the congressman for their felony acts, however, He’s furious at Attorney General Jeff Sessions for allowing Republicans to be prosecuted ahead of the midterms.
On CNN’s New Day, legal analysis Jeffrey Toobin explained how very damaging those tweets could be to Trump:
‘This tweet alone may be an impeachable offense. This is such a disgrace. This is so contrary to the traditions of the Department of Justice (DOJ).’
No matter how many times Trump and the GOP have been told that covering up crimes through the DOJ was not how the Obama administration operated, they refused to believe it. Trump seems to have personally truly believed this, just as his supporters have, while the rest of the GOP likely knows this isn’t the case but needed to bolster the “lock her up” chants by pushing a false narrative.
This is not the conduct of a President committed to defending and upholding the constitution, but rather a President looking to use the Department of Justice to settle political scores. https://t.co/E74YmhD4dB
— Jeff Flake (@JeffFlake) September 3, 2018
The Department of Justice isn’t beholden to whomever sits in the White House. It is an institution that enforces the rule of law that the president has the privilege of nominating someone he trusts to oversee. Using it as some sort of political tool is not only outrageous, it’s illegal.
‘The sentiment at the core of that tweet is so contrary to the mission of the DOJ. It’s such an insult to the decent people who work there.’
It isn’t only Democrats who are pointing to these tweets as proof that the president is unfit for office. Senator Ben Sasse (R-NE) told reporters that:
‘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.’
See CNN’s full segment with Jeffrey Toobin below:
.@JeffreyToobin on President Trump blasting AG Sessions over indictments of GOP congressmen: "This tweet alone may be an impeachable offense. This is such a disgrace." https://t.co/DUNMQ61sv3 pic.twitter.com/3FUeL39bqf
— New Day (@NewDay) September 4, 2018
Featured image via Flickr by Gage Skidmore under a Creative Commons license
