President Donald Trump touted himself as the "law and order" candidate on the campaign trail, but since assuming office and becoming the subject of the ongoing Russia probe, he's been quick to attack institutions that have either been investigating his relationship with Russia or have blocked the constitutionality of the president's agenda.
In two tweets on Wednesday morning, the president slammed the judiciary over its recent block of his DACA decision and once again referred to special counsel Robert Mueller's ongoing Russia investigation as a "Witch Hunt," while imploring his party to "finally take control" of it.
Since his presidency began, Trump has repeatedly railed against the courts for ruling against his policies, while at the same time attempting to appoint conservative judges simply based on the criteria that they side with him. His open contempt for the Russia investigation and his attempts to influence it to end sooner rather than later is also well documented.
Trump's suggestion in his tweet on Wednesday that "Republicans should finally take control" strongly indicated that he wants the party to do anything and everything it can to prevent the investigation from coming to an embarrassing — and potentially incriminating — conclusion for himself or those he's close to. His attempts to impede the investigation, or repeated moves to hide material, could come back to haunt him, as the Salon video below noted.
After Trump's tweets, Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said he would not be having a discussion with the president about taking control of the investigation.
But the GOP has already made efforts to do so, with or without Trump's explicit direction.
House Republicans, led by Trump yes-man Rep. Devin Nunes, of California, have already made substantial efforts to impede the investigation, as Salon has previously reported. His efforts have consisted of discrediting the Department of Justice and the FBI for its handling of the infamous Trump-Russia dossier. But it doesn't end there; Nunes has also retained the sole authority of approving or disapproving what persons of interest receive a subpoena, angering Democrats, who have said they would fight back.
Two House Republicans also penned an op-ed recently and called on Attorney Jeff Sessions — who recused himself from the Russia probe after failing to disclose his contacts with the Russian ambassador during the transition period — to step down.
The two tweets make clear that Trump seems to overlook the rule of law when he, or his administration, is potentially on the wrong side of it or at least subject to deep scrutinization and suspicion.
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