I’ve got to hand it to President Trump. I would not have thought it possible, but he did something on Wednesday that distracted me from his tariff train wreck.
Of course, I’m not saying this is a good thing.
Chris Krebs is an American attorney who served as the director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency during President Trump’s first term. On Nov. 17, 2020, in the midst of Trump’s efforts to overturn the election, Krebs issued a statement via Twitter pointing out that the fraud allegations and election conspiracy theories being pushed by the likes of Sidney Powell and Michael Flynn were completely unfounded. “Fifty-nine election security experts all agree,” he said, “'in every case of which we are aware, these claims (of fraud) either have been unsubstantiated or are technically incoherent.’”
Trump fired him that same day, via tweet.
Krebs's betrayal obviously rankled Trump, because on Wednesday — more than four years later — he took the extraordinary step of signing an executive order commanding the Department of Justice to investigate and prosecute Krebs. At the same photo op, Trump signed a similar order regarding Miles Taylor, the man who wrote an op-ed and a subsequent book using the byline “Anonymous” describing the inner workings of the Trump administration.
Politically, this is a gift to the Democrats. It allows them to force Republicans, yet again, to discuss Trump’s election denialism — something that 70 percent of voters dislike. The GOP is right that America wants to “move on” from the 2020 election. It is a real problem for them that Trump won’t.
But this latest attack on the rule of law is much more than Trump throwing another tantrum about losing an election. It is a naked attempt to use the Department of Justice as a tool of political oppression.
It’s significant Trump did this by executive order, complete with photo op, rather than by having a quiet word with Attorney General Pam Bondi. This isn’t just about punishing Krebs and Taylor — it’s a message to everyone else, no matter how insignificant, who might consider “crossing” him. We often say this or that is how authoritarianism begins. Well, this is what authoritarianism is.
There are so many things wrong with what Trump has done that I won’t even try to list them all. But here are a few to get you started.
First, it is an article of faith in America that law enforcement investigates crimes, not people. Trump’s executive orders turn that on its head. The order to investigate Taylor was described by the White House as commanding the ...
