By Quin Hillyer at The Washington Examiner;

Memo to President Trump: Shut up and govern.

[kpolls]

Memo to congressional leaders, Cabinet members, and senior White House staff: If President Trump orders the firing of special counsel Robert Mueller, mass “honor” resignations by Cabinet officials and staff should follow, and an impeachment inquiry should immediately commence.

Important clarification: An impeachment inquiry is just that — an open investigation, not a show trial with a predetermined outcome.

Let’s take these one at a time. First, as to Trump’s own role: The biggest reason everybody obsesses about Mueller’s Russia-related investigation is because Trump himself obsesses about it. He’s the one who, almost daily, focuses national attention on it rather than letting it proceed apace, somewhat in the background. In doing so, he is harming both the country and, bizarrely, his own legal and political standing.

Trump harms the country by undermining faith in our system of justice, by appearing to put the president’s own interests ahead of the national interest in countering Russian perfidy, and by keeping the public square churning in anger, suspicion, and conspiracy theories that pollute civil society. He harms himself by helping his opponents build the case that he is trying to obstruct justice. And his loud, nearly unhinged protestations make him sound like a man with something bad to hide.

As noted conservative Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., said over the weekend, technically addressing Trump lawyer John Dowd, “If you have an innocent client, Mr. Dowd, act like it.” Then, directly referencing Trump himself, Gowdy added: “If you’ve done nothing wrong, you should want the investigation to be as fulsome and thorough as possible.”

Meanwhile, presidential appointees and staff, as well as congressional leaders, have a duty to the country superseding any supposed responsibility to be “loyal” to the president. It is an essential tenet of a constitutional republic that no man, not even the president, is above the law….

[Full column is at this link.]

 

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