The GOP: Actually, Crime Is Good
On Friday, prosecutors for the Southern District of New York filed a sentencing memo for Michael Cohen. In recommending a “substantial” prison term for the president’s former lawyer-fixer, the SDNY wrote that Trump directed Cohen to make pre-election hush money payments to two women that constitute felony campaign finance violations. This is a big deal, and some believe Trump could be in danger of landing in prison once he leaves office. Trump has responded by blaming Democrats and alleging that the payments were “simple private transactions.” This in no way exonerates the president, but that hasn’t stopped Republican lawmakers from rushing to his defense. Some have feigned ignorance, while others have gone so far as to argue that federal crimes aren’t really that big of a deal, you know, when you really think about it.
The worst offender may have been Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT), who has responded to the gradual implosion of democracy in part by tweeting slow-motion bacon videos and jokes about corn pizza. Like the president, Hatch first blamed the Democrats. When he was corrected, he said that he “doesn’t care” about Trump’s crimes, and that he is “doing a good job as president.” The longest-tenured Senate Republican didn’t stop there, arguing that “you can make anything a crime under the current laws” and that what Trump did before he took office is immaterial.
Link to tweet
In 1999, Hatch wrote that “crimes of moral turpitude such as perjury and obstruction of justice go to the heart of qualification for public office” while arguing that President Clinton should be removed from office for perjury and obstructing justice.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) also argued that campaign finance violations can be pretty frivolous, as far as felonies go. “If [Rep. Adam] Schiff is taking this beyond to go forward and say there is an impeachable offense because of a campaign finance problem, there are a lot of members in Congress who would have to leave for that same place.”
Link to tweet
https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/trump-campaign-finance-violations-767436/
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