Mueller is not the solution to this mess, Congress needs to get it’s act together. The legislative branch is meant to be a check on the executive, yet the Republican controlled Congress continues to be complicit in allowing the President attack long standing allies as he undermines democratic institutions.

The GOP leadership in the House has been complicit in obstructing all investigations into Russian election interference

Republican Speaker of the House Paul Ryan has been complicit in allowing the subversion of democracy in the United States of America. Trump administration officials are blocking an investigation into 21 state election systems that were attacked by Russia.[1] Moreover, Republicans in the House Intelligence Committee voted to shut down the Russia probe.[2] Republicans shut down the HIC investigation when we know of at least 70 contacts between the Trump team and Russia-linked operatives, the committee obtained either no or incomplete information about 81% of known contacts between Trump officials and Russians.[3] Six Democrats who are Ranking Members of their committees have been forced to request documents related to the Russian attacks against 21 state election systems in 2016 from Speaker of the House Paul Ryan.[4] The cybersecurity head of the Department of Homeland Security has stated that the Russians had successfully penetrated voter registration rolls in several states before the 2016 election.[5]

It is hard to trust Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, in an interview with Fox News he said that the FBI needed to be cleansed.[6] Moreover, a month after then candidate Trump clinched the Republican nomination, Republican House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy made an explosive claim in a private meeting with Republican leaders; he believed that Donald Trump was the beneficiary of payments made by Vladimir Putin. During this exchange Paul Ryan immediately interjected swearing secrecy to those present by saying No leaks. This is how we know we’re a real family here.[7] It is doubtful that Paul Ryan will assist, he sat by idly while Republican Congressman Nunes made a mockery of the Russia investigation in the House Intelligence Committee for over a year.[8]

The President’s attacks on democratic institutions

The rhetoric and actions taken by the President – from continuing to berate the fourth estate by referring to the media as “fake news”[9] to calling his political opponents traitors[10] while he attacks the judicial branch of government without remorse,[11] are just a few examples of his egregious attacks on democratic institutions and norms.

President Trump has referred to the minority party as un-American, he had the audacity to call them traitors for not applauding his speech.[12] This is what autocrats demand, blind loyalty. President Trump recently made a joke about wanting to consolidate his power like his dictator colleague in China, President Xi Jinping.[13] President Trump has repeatedly praised dictators including Putin, Duterte, Erdogan, and el-Sisi;[14]

Trump’s fondness for authoritarians may have more to do with how power is wielded than those who exercise it. It just so happens that Western governments have, for the past seven decades, mostly adhered to a system of the rule of law, which empowers institutions rather than individuals. Trump’s apparent preference is for a system in which one individual, presumably him, wields that power.

Indeed, his fondness for strongmen and dictators isn’t limited to Xi Jinping or any other individual in power now. He has praised Iraq’s Saddam Hussein (while also criticizing him as “a bad guy”) for killing terrorists. “He did that so good,” Trump said in July 2016. “They didn’t read them the rights. They didn’t talk. They were terrorists. Over.”

Trump also said in 2016 that Libya would be better off “if [Moammar] Gaddafi were in charge right now.” He once tweeted a quote from Benito Mussolini, the Italian fascist leader, and later defended the tweet, saying: “Mussolini was Mussolini … It’s a very good quote. It’s a very interesting quote… what difference does it make whether it’s Mussolini or somebody else?”

Trump even said China’s brutal crackdown on protesters in Tiananmen Square in 1989 “shows you the power of strength,” contrasting the Communist Party’s action with the United States, which he said “is right now perceived as weak.” Trump made those comments in 1990. When asked about the remarks during the presidential debate in 2016, Trump defended himself and appeared to take the Chinese Communist Party’s view of the events at Tiananmen. He dismissed the deadly military response as a “riot.”

1) Washington Examiner – Democrats ask Paul Ryan to help dislodge DHS records on Russian election meddling

2) Reuters – Republicans shut down House Russia probe over Democratic objections

3) NBC – House probe overlooked most Trump-Russia contacts, report claims

4) The Hill – House Dems ask Ryan to intervene on Russia documents

5) Washington Examiner – DHS official: Russians ‘successfully penetrated’ voter registration rolls in several states before 2016 election

6) The Hill – Ryan calls for a ‘cleanse’ of the FBI

7) Washington Post – House majority leader to colleagues in 2016: ‘I think Putin pays’ Trump

8) Wall Street Journal – Paul Ryan Rejects Call for Devin Nunes to Step Aside From Probe

9) Washington Post – Trump admitted he attacks press to shield himself from negative coverage, Lesley Stahl says

10) The Atlantic – He Dares Call It Treason

11) Washington Post – All the times Trump personally attacked judges — and why his tirades are ‘worse than wrong’

12) USA Today – Trump blasts ‘treasonous’ Democrats for not applauding at his State of the Union address

13) CNN – Trump on China’s Xi consolidating power: ‘Maybe we’ll give that a shot some day’

14) The Atlantic – Nine Notorious Dictators, Nine Shout-Outs From Donald Trump