You can’t handle the truth
Republicans are useless, but some are trying to wake up the rest. Chris Christie took offense to Trump’s claim that he was indicted for “us.” Christie said: “He had the audacity to say that he got indicted for us. Now, I don’t know how it benefited the American people for him to take highly sensitive intelligence and secret documents out of the White House to stonewall the government on returning them for over a year and a half to subject himself to a raid by the FBI even though they had asked him voluntarily to return this stuff.” Christie calls the entire thing “absurd.” Christie is, of course, running for president as the antithesis of Trump, so his words are to be expected. But what about those who aren’t running at all?
Take Alberto Gonzales, for example. He is the former attorney general under President George W. Bush, and he recently wrote a piece for CNN that is not only a scathing rebuke of Donald Trump but of the Republicans who continue to support Trump’s nonsense. Gonzales does not appreciate Trump calling the case a “witch hunt” and implores everyone to “push back” against Trump and his defenders because they are attacking the rule of law. Most importantly, Gonzalez reproached Republican claims that this investigation results from partisan politics in that Merrick Garland – who was appointed by President Biden – recused himself and appointed Jack Smith as special counsel, whom Gonzales called “an impartial upholder of the law.” Gonzales also pointed out the differences between Clinton, Pence, and Biden with respect to classified documents and believes that neither Biden nor Pence even knew they had classified documents. Had Trump behaved like either of these three, he would not be under indictment. He chose the wrong path, and he is paying for it.
A George H.W. Bush appointee, former federal judge Michael Luttig, similarly wrote a piece for the New York Times, where he called Republican support for Trump “spineless.” Luttig pointed out, as did Gonzales, that Trump brought all this upon himself. Littig wrote: “Indeed, their fawning support since the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol has given Mr. Trump every reason to believe that he can ride these charges and any others not just to the Republican nomination, but also the White House in 2024.” In Luttig’s view, Republicans are every bit as responsible for the indictment as is Trump. Luttig has testified before the House Select Committee, and it was his words that Mike Pence used to refuse compliance with Donald Trump demand that he stop certification of President Biden’s victory.
We can hope that Republicans take some knowledge from three other Republicans, but that is doubtful. Luttig ended his piece with some insightful words: “If the indictment of Mr. Trump on Espionage Act charges-not to mention his now almost certain indictment for conspiring to obstruct Congress from certifying Mr. Biden as the president on Jan. 6-fails to shake the Republican Party from its moribund political senses, then it is beyond saving itself. Nor ought it be saved.” Republicans don’t need to go away mad; they just need to go away.
Shirley is a former entertainment writer and has worked in the legal field for over 25 years