slate - Is There Anything Trump Could Do to Lose GOP Support?
Republican indifference to the Comey firing is the latest evidence that this is a party defined not by conservatism but by its will to power.
By Jamelle Bouie
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2017/05/comey_s_gone_and_the_gop_doesn_t_care_is_there_anything_trump_could_do_to.html
The firing of FBI Director James Comey has all the markings of a cover-up. There’s the rationale—Comey’s handling of the investigation of Hillary Clinton—which reads like a pretext in light of President Trump’s prior praise for Comey’s actions during the presidential election. Trump and key allies celebrated the now-former director’s infamous letter to Congress on the eve of the election. There’s the evidence, reported in the wake of Comey’s dismissal, that Trump had settled on the firing last week and was simply waiting on a reason, which was eventually provided by Attorney General Jeff Sessions and his deputy, Rod Rosenstein. There’s Trump’s own behavior, revealed in a behind-the-scenes look at his decision from Politico: Trump had grown “enraged” by the FBI’s investigation of contacts between Russia and his campaign, he “repeatedly asked why the Russia investigation wouldn’t disappear,” and he was angry that Comey wouldn’t “support his claims that President Barack Obama had tapped his phones in Trump Tower.”
Then there’s the simple fact that firing Comey removes the key figure behind the Russia investigation, which as of Tuesday had already led to grand jury subpoenas for associates of former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn. Trump has the right, as president, to remove his FBI director, but to do so in the midst of a consequential inquiry into his own inner circle—just days after Comey requested more resources for that investigation—is to violate every norm and expectation we have of White House conduct.
If anything in recent American history bears comparison to the Watergate scandal, it’s this. If anything demands congressional action, it’s this. But congressional action depends on the Republican Party, which holds majorities in both chambers of Congress. And with few exceptions, Republicans are uninterested in challenging Trump’s actions. The GOP has all but abdicated its role as a check on executive power and a defender of constitutional government and seems indifferent to this latest—and most serious—assault on the integrity of our democracy. Which raises an unsettling question: Is there anything Trump could do to spark rebellion from the Republican Party? Any action that breaks the thrall of partisanship?
The exceptions, so far, to GOP indifference are Sens. Richard Burr of North Carolina, Ben Sasse of Nebraska, and John McCain and Jeff Flake of Arizona, all of whom voiced their concern with Comey’s removal. “I am troubled by the timing and reasoning of Jim Comey’s termination,” said Burr, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, in a statement. Similarly, said Sasse, “Regardless of how you think Director Comey handled the unprecedented complexities of the 2016 election cycle, the timing of this firing is very troubling.”
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