Since taking office six months ago, Donald Trump has periodically called for assorted investigations, though in nearly every instance, the president seemed to more or less blurt out the idea without any real thought or planning.
Trump has, for example, said he wants Barack Obama investigated for “wiretapping” Trump Tower during the election. The president also demanded an investigation into “voter fraud” in the 2016 presidential election. Trump, at one point, even said Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) should be investigated for his claims about his military service.
This morning, the president added to his list in rather dramatic fashion. Trump tweeted:
“So why aren’t the Committees and investigators, and of course our beleaguered A.G., looking into Crooked Hillarys crimes & Russia relations?”
Note, since becoming president, every investigation Trump has called for has been … how do I put this gently … quite bonkers.
Indeed, while we’ve all become quite accustomed to Trump saying deeply strange things, especially via social media, this morning’s missive was quite a bit worse than his usual fare.
Whether he understands this or not, presidents are not supposed to encourage the Justice Department to go after their political rivals. Trump’s authoritarian instincts routinely do not serve him well.
Neither, of course, does Trump’s obsessive interest in Clinton, who lost the presidential election nearly nine months ago. He tweets about her frequently — including four times since Saturday morning — and seems to have an uncontrollable habit of bringing her up, unprompted, in nearly every interview.
I realize that the president finds it easier to focus on 2016 than 2017 — he was having far more fun when he didn’t have to govern — but there’s nothing healthy about any of this.
As for why Clinton isn’t under investigation, it’s because there’s no evidence she or anyone on her team did anything wrong. We can’t say the same about the president.
Postscript: It’s hard not to appreciate Trump’s reference to his “beleaguered” attorney general, Jeff Sessions. In reality, the main reason Sessions is beleaguered is that the president doesn’t support him and regrets nominating him.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."