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Are There 22 Patriotic House Republicans?
Trump warning to former FBI Director James Comey against leaking anything negative about him--tweeting "James Comey better hope that there are no 'tapes' of our conversations before he starts leaking to the press!"--is deeply troubling.
The core issue here is not whether Trump is secretly recording his meetings or telephone calls (Trump and his White House aides refuse to say whether he tapes his visitors, something he was suspected of doing when he was in business in New York).
The real issues are these:
May 13, 2017
Trump warning to former FBI Director James Comey against leaking anything negative about him--tweeting "James Comey better hope that there are no 'tapes' of our conversations before he starts leaking to the press!"--is deeply troubling.
The core issue here is not whether Trump is secretly recording his meetings or telephone calls (Trump and his White House aides refuse to say whether he tapes his visitors, something he was suspected of doing when he was in business in New York).
The real issues are these:
(1) The illegality of a President of theUnited States seeking to intimidate a potential witness in a congressional investigation.
(2) The illegality of a President potentially intimidating current FBI personnel who are investigating that president or his aides, by firing the former FBI head who was leading such an investigation and now threatening retaliation against him.
These illegal acts cannot be ignored. We are facing a constitutional crisis potentially larger and more significant than Richard Nixon's "Watergate." As long as Donald Trump remains president, our governing institutions are threatened.
The question now is whether there exist 22 House Republicans whose loyalty to the United States exceeds their loyalty to the Republican Party, who would join with House Democrats in seeking a bill of impeachment.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
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Robert Reich
Robert Reich is professor emeritus of public policy at Berkeley and former US secretary of labor. His latest book is the No. 1 New York Times best-seller, "Coming Up Short."
Trump warning to former FBI Director James Comey against leaking anything negative about him--tweeting "James Comey better hope that there are no 'tapes' of our conversations before he starts leaking to the press!"--is deeply troubling.
The core issue here is not whether Trump is secretly recording his meetings or telephone calls (Trump and his White House aides refuse to say whether he tapes his visitors, something he was suspected of doing when he was in business in New York).
The real issues are these:
(1) The illegality of a President of theUnited States seeking to intimidate a potential witness in a congressional investigation.
(2) The illegality of a President potentially intimidating current FBI personnel who are investigating that president or his aides, by firing the former FBI head who was leading such an investigation and now threatening retaliation against him.
These illegal acts cannot be ignored. We are facing a constitutional crisis potentially larger and more significant than Richard Nixon's "Watergate." As long as Donald Trump remains president, our governing institutions are threatened.
The question now is whether there exist 22 House Republicans whose loyalty to the United States exceeds their loyalty to the Republican Party, who would join with House Democrats in seeking a bill of impeachment.
Robert Reich
Robert Reich is professor emeritus of public policy at Berkeley and former US secretary of labor. His latest book is the No. 1 New York Times best-seller, "Coming Up Short."
Trump warning to former FBI Director James Comey against leaking anything negative about him--tweeting "James Comey better hope that there are no 'tapes' of our conversations before he starts leaking to the press!"--is deeply troubling.
The core issue here is not whether Trump is secretly recording his meetings or telephone calls (Trump and his White House aides refuse to say whether he tapes his visitors, something he was suspected of doing when he was in business in New York).
The real issues are these:
(1) The illegality of a President of theUnited States seeking to intimidate a potential witness in a congressional investigation.
(2) The illegality of a President potentially intimidating current FBI personnel who are investigating that president or his aides, by firing the former FBI head who was leading such an investigation and now threatening retaliation against him.
These illegal acts cannot be ignored. We are facing a constitutional crisis potentially larger and more significant than Richard Nixon's "Watergate." As long as Donald Trump remains president, our governing institutions are threatened.
The question now is whether there exist 22 House Republicans whose loyalty to the United States exceeds their loyalty to the Republican Party, who would join with House Democrats in seeking a bill of impeachment.
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