As election season begins in earnest, Republicans in Congress are finding themselves suddenly more uncomfortable with President Trump’s daily routine of shocking corruption, racism, and subverting America’s interests to Vladimir Putin.
But there’s one soothing balm that always does the trick for Republicans in Congress: a nice new round of tax cuts for their millionaire donors and themselves.
And so today, as the country reeled from the spectacle of an American president choosing Putin over his own intelligence agencies and behaving like a pathetic sidekick on the world stage, President Trump invited some of his favorite Members of Congress over to the White House.
By chance, we assume, his guests also happened to include some of the biggest personal beneficiaries of the Trump tax bill, such as Rep. Diane Black of Tennessee, who got a windfall of up to $1,045,000 from a single loophole, and Rep. Jim Renacci of Ohio, who got up to $330,000.
They were there to unwrap a very special present to themselves and their donors, and you’ll never guess what it was: it was another giant round of tax cuts they want to pass to enrich themselves and their donors even more.
Simultaneously, in a terrific coincidence, the Trump Administration also announced new rules that will allow even more anonymous billionaire money to be spent on things like re-electing those very Republicans to Congress.
Evidently, a new indictment yesterday suggesting that just this kind of dark money may have played a central role in the Russia scandal, did not give the Trump Administration a second thought about expanding the secrecy even further.
And just to close the loop completely, it appears that both House and Senate Republicans have refused for months to allow interviews of that newly-indicted individual, Maria Butina, a Russian agent now facing criminal charges for setting up a secret backchannel with the GOP through the NRA.
Of course this has always been the grand bargain: Republicans in Congress get their tax cuts, and President Trump gets a permanent get-out-of-oversight-free card.
For the bigger picture on the Republican Russia cover-up, the Moscow Project here at CAP looked at just how deceptive the Trump team has been, and just how hard the House Intelligence Committee worked to avoid catching them in their lies.
DEMOCRACY IS UNDER SIEGE, STAND UP FOR IT
Trump is selling out our democracy to Russia for his personal gains; corruption is running amok across Washington and the country; and Trump is trying to confirm a Supreme Court Justice who believes presidents should be above the law, and so far has given no sign that he will recuse himself from cases related to Trump investigations. It’s a rough time for democracy; good thing it has you.
Tomorrow, join the movement to Confront Corruption and Demand Democracy by participating in a candlelit vigil near you. In cities and towns across the country, people will gather at over 100 vigils around the country to stand watch for democracy.
Visit Confront Corruption’s website to find a rally near you, and spread the word with hashtag #ConfrontCorruption.
If you’re in DC, join us for the D.C. vigil at 8 p.m. at the White House (Lafayette Square) tomorrow.