Trump goes after another democratic norm
All officials entering government must swear an oath of loyalty to the Constitution of the United States. President Trump made his own such promise. Yet he appears to believe that the public servants of the Justice Department owe their allegiance not to the Constitution but to him.
The litany of Mr. Trump’s attacks on the integrity of federal law enforcement is lengthy. He reportedly requested personal loyalty from FBI Director James B. Comey and then fired him. He has raged over the refusal of Justice Department leadership to do his bidding. He has demanded an FBI investigation of Hillary Clinton and her former aide Huma Abedin.
New reporting by the New York Times makes clear the depth of Mr. Trump’s disregard for the importance of a nonpartisan and independent Justice Department. Angry over Attorney General Jeff Sessions’s recusal from the Russia investigation, the president reportedly compared Mr. Sessions disfavorably to the unscrupulous New York fixer Roy Cohn. Mr. Trump seems to view Mr. Sessions not as a public servant but as a personal assistant — someone to shield him from political winds, regardless of ethical or legal obligations to the contrary.
The same is true of Mr. Trump’s view of White House counsel Donald McGahn, whom the Times reports Mr. Trump tasked unsuccessfully with talking Mr. Sessions out of his recusal. The White House counsel represents the office of the presidency, not the president’s personal interests. But this distinction appears lost on Mr. Trump.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/trump-goes-after-another-democratic-norm/2018/01/07/a134008a-f228-11e7-97bf-bba379b809ab_story.html
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