It’s not really beating a dead horse if the horse is still alive and finding new ways to tear down our institutions and profit off the presidency.
For the past few weeks I’ve been talking to members of Congress about the Trump administration’s abuses of power including alleged pay-to-play pardons, regulatory rollbacks for corporate donors, and selling sensitive technology to foreign governments who donate to the Trump family businesses. There was also that $1.7 billion slush fund that would have given our tax-dollars to criminals who attacked police during the January 6th insurrection.
More recently, I spoke to Senator Adam Schiff, D-California, about securing accountability and instituting safeguards against this corrupt playbook. We also spoke about the role that Congressional Republicans have played in this scandal-saturated presidency and whether the very fact that we are a democracy limits how much we can do to prevent such an administration.
Securing Partial Accountability
The Supreme Court’s presidential immunity ruling in Trump v United States leaves few prospects for prosecuting Trump on any federal charges. But what of those allegedly paying for pardons and corporations allegedly donating to the president to get mergers approved? What of the Trump administration officials engaging in illegal conduct?
“I’ll pardon everyone who has come within 200 feet of the Oval [Office],” Trump promised them.
These sorts of promises have presumably been one of the reasons so many have been shameless participants in illegal activities such as bribery. Perhaps those promises shouldn’t be of much comfort, according to Sen. Schiff.
“Those pardons will only apply to federal crimes,” Schiff notes. “The corruption that we’re seeing is both a violation of federal law and state law. So they will not be immune from being prosecuted by state authorities if they’ve been engaged in corruption … For all of his cronies, and regardless of what he does with pardons, they will continue to face liability.”
This echoed what I heard from Democrats in the House with Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Long Beach, who argued that accountability may require state-level prosecutions not preempted by federal pardons.
Preserving and Protecting the Integrity of the American Presidency
Any accountability for the current administration would be nice, but more important is ensuring the sorts of abuses we’re seeing now are prevented in the future.
Sen. Schiff’s Protecting Our Democracy Act is one potential step in that direction. Schiff’s proposal strengthens whistleblower protections and oversight over emergency declarations, strengthens the independence of inspector generals and the Department of Justice, and facilitates the enforcement of Congressional subpoenas, among other provisions.
With many of these clauses, Democrats are attempting to thread a needle to avoid them being ruled unconstitutional on separation of powers grounds. Consequently, many of these provisions are limited in their effectiveness.
To take one example, the bill has a section titled “Abuse of the Pardon Power Prevention Act” that targets the president pardoning his associates. Any real limitations to the pardon power would be quickly struck down by courts, so the section only creates an obligation for the executive to report to Congress certain pardons and the associated investigations of the criminal conduct.
Congressional Democrats are limited by the Constitution in how they can address these abuses but it is an admirable effort nonetheless.
Either way, any successful legislative effort will have to wait until after Trump’s term. Any bills proposing checks on the president’s power or expanding Congressional oversight will lack the votes to overcome a presidential veto unless the upcoming November midterms result in the Democrats retaking both the House and Senate by improbable margins.
No Political Will To Use the New Tools
The truth is that, strictly speaking, we don’t need any new safeguards or powerful anti-corruption laws. The DOJ has the power to investigate these crimes, the Supreme Court has the power to affirm the limits of executive authority, and Congress can impeach and convict Trump.
The only thing that is missing is what should be the most easily attainable of all: the political will to do what’s best for our country and respect the rule of law. No set of reforms will accomplish much if too many in our government refuse to enforce them, which is what we have now.
“You know, I think you’ve really put your finger on the most basic limitation in our system and that is it requires people to live up to their oath of office,” said Sen. Schiff. “It requires them to give meaning to that oath and have that oath be informed by ideas of right and wrong and by the truth. It requires them to put their country over their political party.”
Even reluctantly, putting country over party is what politicians, despite all of their faults, have been doing when the abuses of the president become too much to accept. During the Watergate scandal, Republicans eventually forced Nixon to resign, and that scandal was nothing compared to what Trump has been up to.
I asked Sen. Schiff what’s so different about this batch of Republicans.
“The way people get their news has changed and created a dynamic where the president has the power of removing people of his party through the primary and that has put fear in them. Most of my Republican colleagues are worried about crossing the president because they will be primaried.”
I reached out to a few Southern California Republicans in Congress to ask what they thought about all of these abuses and whether they even acknowledged that there is the appearance of corruption.
Rep. Jay Obernolte and Rep. Young Kim ignored my request for comment. A spokesperson for Rep. Ken Calvert told me the congressman was out of the country and so couldn’t provide a comment. There is no doubt in my mind that if Calvert had been in the country, he would have directly and thoroughly answered every one of my questions.
For all of the effort by Democrats to secure accountability and prevent future abuses, the prospects are bleak without Republicans finally reaching their Watergate moment and holding the sitting president accountable for his abuses of power. They do not appear to be moving in that direction, yet.
Rafael Perez is a columnist for the Southern California News Group. You can reach him at rafaelperezocregister@gmail.com.