Self-appointed King
Donald Trump has not drained the so-called “swamp” but rather he has cultivated it and made himself king. Trump has surrounded himself with shady characters in his cabinet (e.g. Scott Pruit who headed the EPA and is being investigated for the misuse of taxpayer funds) as well as outright crooks (e.g. Paul Manafort who has been convicted of numerous financial crimes) (Bloomberg). The 34 indictments (which include 6 former Trump advisors and 26 Russian nationals) from the Mueller investigation reveal the moral quality of Trump’s campaign staff and business associates. Five of the six Trump advisors have already been convicted or plead guilty (Vox).
Railing against investigations
I have written about Trump being the King of the Swamp before (King of the Swamp) and (King of the Swamp II) with the emphasis on the evidence of wrong doing in the administration. Given Trump’s recent actions, my emphasis has shifted to his being “king” of the swamp. The president is increasingly behaving as if he is above the law and should never be subject to investigation. However, investigations of the executive branch by Congress occur frequently and is part of legislature’s responsibility to serve as a check on presidential power. In fact, the official capitol visitors site (visitthecapitol) explains the investigative role of Congress as follows.
Congress’s oversight authority is an implied, but vital, constitutional power.
Attacking the process
The president continues to attach Mueller, his staff, and the process, despite his claiming the report exonerated him. Although the president claims the Mueller report clears him of all wrong doing in the Russian election interference probe, we have not seen the actual report yet. His continued attacks on the process and his unwillingness to release an unredacted version of the report, suggests the report is far more damning than Trump’s appointed Attorney General Barr’s summary suggests.
The president’s attacks on the process are of great concern because at their core they are an attack on our system of government and our constitution. His twitter posts rail against the idea of an investigation. For example, he writes:
Why should I be defending a fraudulent Russian Witch Hunt. It’s about time the perpetrators of this fraud on me and the American People start defending their dishonest and treasonous acts. How and why did this terrible event begin? Never Forget!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 6, 2019
He fails to acknowledge that all parties (including the GOP) accept the conclusion that the Russians did attempt to interfere with the US election (FoxNews) and that he levied sanctions on them as a punishment. Given there was Russian meddling and that several members of his family and campaign staff had meetings with the Russians, it would be outrageous not to investigate the nature of these exchanges were. Actually, we still do not know what these meetings were about as different stories (adoption, a real estate deal) have been floated overtime.
The president is behaving as if he is a king extends beyond the Mueller investigation. His declaring immigration a national emergency so he can defy Congress’s decision not to fund his wall is acting like a king. His refusal to turn over his tax returns, a request well within the powers of Congress, is acting like a king.
No kings here
We do not have a king. We rejected this idea at our founding. Our constitution is designed to protect against the president gaining king-like powers. It needs to be respected.
Update
Since writing this post last week, Trump has threatened to take two actions that would be egregious abuses of power. First, he is threatening to release large numbers of immigrants into sanctuary cities which has been deemed illegal by the Department of Homeland Security lawyers. Furthermore, he makes no attempt to hide the fact that this action is purely to punish communities that do not go alone with his immigration policy. Second, it is reported that he told a border patrol official that he could break the law because Trump would pardon him (CNN). This may be the most outrageous thing Trump has ever said and by far the scariest. It gives us a window into his complete disrespect for the law and his willing to do any to get his way. He truly thinks he is a king.