The first not-so-subtle hint came to the fore in April. Facing the threat of a federal criminal indictment, Donald Trump’s lawyers sent a strange, 10-page letter to the House Intelligence Committee, insisting that a “legislative solution” is “required” to prevent special counsel Jack Smith from continuing his investigation into the former president’s classified documents scandal.
The correspondence did not, however, specify what, exactly, Team Trump expected — or even wanted — Congress to do. The Republican operation wanted lawmakers to intervene, but it was far from clear how they should proceed.
Last month, ahead of his indictment, the former president again looked to Capitol Hill for some kind of rescue, writing on his social media platform, “REPUBLICANS IN CONGRESS MUST MAKE THIS THEIR # 1 ISSUE!!!”
But it still wasn’t clear what, specifically, his congressional allies were supposed to do. I wrote an item soon after noting that Congress has no control over who is or isn’t indicted, and lawmakers can’t simply choose to insert themselves in active criminal investigations. I added that the only possible step would be a ridiculous attempt at defunding the special counsel’s office.
With this in mind, I suppose it was inevitable that he’d endorse exactly this approach. Trump used his social media platform yesterday to publish a long and incoherent tirade, which concluded with this appeal:
“Deranged Jack Smith, who is a sick puppet for A.G. Garland & Crooked Joe Biden, should be DEFUNDED & put out to rest. Republicans must get tough or the Dems will steal another Election. MAGA!”
There’s obviously no point in publishing a detailed fact-check of the Republican’s many foolish conspiracy theories, but it is worth keeping in mind that the idea of defunding the special counsel’s investigation is not entirely new. The Hill reported a few weeks ago: Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) on Monday called to defund special counsel Jack Smith and his office — which is handling the Trump documents case — through the appropriations process.
It’s refreshing, in an odd way: We’ve grown increasingly accustomed to seeing Republicans endorse defunding federal law enforcement in general. Now, some radical GOP voices are narrowing their focus: They don’t want to defund all of federal law enforcement, just one small part of it. There is no reason to believe the calls to defund Smith’s investigation will work, Trump’s endorsement of the idea notwithstanding, but the fact that the former president has endorsed such a move is a timely reminder about just how desperate he’s feeling about his criminal liabilities.
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."
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