By Jennifer Rubin
Columnist |
Today at 12:18 p.m. EDT
Contrary to the infamous prediction from Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) that President Donald Trump “learned” his lesson after she voted to acquit him in his impeachment trial over his efforts to extort Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Trump has never stopped soliciting help from foreign powers to aid his political prospects.
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In an interview published on Tuesday, the disgraced former president issued a new plea to Russia — even as it wages a vicious war against our ally and perpetrates war crimes — to release information concerning Hunter Biden’s laptop. This echoes his request to Russia in 2016 to reveal Hillary Clinton’s stolen emails, and his “perfect” phone call with Zelensky in which he tried to coerce the Ukrainian leader to do him a “favor” by announcing a phony investigation into Joe Biden. So no, Trump has not learned any lessons.
Once more, Republicans remain mute in the face of their party leader’s grossly improper conduct — attempted “collusion,” if you like. Don’t bother waiting for Republicans to repudiate him. If they did not do so when he extorted Zelensky or when he praised war criminal Vladimir Putin after the invasion of Ukraine, they are not going to now. Make no mistake: The Republican Party remains in the grip of a man with no appreciation for the danger in soliciting help from dictators.
The latest incident also serves as a reminder that Congress has been utterly delinquent in addressing a raft of reforms that could prevent politicians from soliciting dirt on their opponents from foreign powers. Aside from minor provisions to enhance transparency when the executive branch delays or disrupts funding for other countries (as occurred in Trump’s decision to hold back military aid to Ukraine), Congress has failed to enact any of the many reforms set out in the Protecting Our Democracy Act.
As the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), explained in a news release, the legislation — in addition to preventing the politicization of the Justice Department, requiring the president and vice president to disclose their tax returns and beefing up the Hatch Act — would require political committees, candidates and their immediate family to “report to the FBI and the Federal Election Commission (FEC) certain foreign contacts.” The bill would also require the FBI to “report to the congressional intelligence committees any reporting received pursuant to these provisions.” In addition, it “clarifies that the definition of a ‘thing of value’ in the Federal Election Campaign Act prohibition on foreign donations to political campaigns and candidates includes information sought or obtained for political advantage; enhances criminal penalties for violations of such prohibition; requires that political campaigns certify that they understand the prohibition.”
Given that Trump, the leading contender for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024, shows every indication he is willing to continue exploiting ambiguities in election law and seek help from foreign adversaries of the United States, you might think Democrats in Congress would put a greater emphasis on the bill. But after the House passed the bill last year, they have left it to die a quiet death in the Senate.
Well, you might say, Republicans would never go along. If so, it would be a telling sign that the GOP, like Trump, has not learned its lesson and remains willing to enable a politician ready to cede influence in our elections to foreign powers. Democrats should put the bill on the Senate floor and dare Republicans to veto it. Even if the bill does not pass, we will at least have a clear understanding of which party is willing to remain beholden to foreign foes.
Columnist |
Today at 12:18 p.m. EDT
Contrary to the infamous prediction from Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) that President Donald Trump “learned” his lesson after she voted to acquit him in his impeachment trial over his efforts to extort Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Trump has never stopped soliciting help from foreign powers to aid his political prospects.
Sign up for a weekly roundup of thought-provoking ideas and debates
In an interview published on Tuesday, the disgraced former president issued a new plea to Russia — even as it wages a vicious war against our ally and perpetrates war crimes — to release information concerning Hunter Biden’s laptop. This echoes his request to Russia in 2016 to reveal Hillary Clinton’s stolen emails, and his “perfect” phone call with Zelensky in which he tried to coerce the Ukrainian leader to do him a “favor” by announcing a phony investigation into Joe Biden. So no, Trump has not learned any lessons.
Once more, Republicans remain mute in the face of their party leader’s grossly improper conduct — attempted “collusion,” if you like. Don’t bother waiting for Republicans to repudiate him. If they did not do so when he extorted Zelensky or when he praised war criminal Vladimir Putin after the invasion of Ukraine, they are not going to now. Make no mistake: The Republican Party remains in the grip of a man with no appreciation for the danger in soliciting help from dictators.
The latest incident also serves as a reminder that Congress has been utterly delinquent in addressing a raft of reforms that could prevent politicians from soliciting dirt on their opponents from foreign powers. Aside from minor provisions to enhance transparency when the executive branch delays or disrupts funding for other countries (as occurred in Trump’s decision to hold back military aid to Ukraine), Congress has failed to enact any of the many reforms set out in the Protecting Our Democracy Act.
As the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), explained in a news release, the legislation — in addition to preventing the politicization of the Justice Department, requiring the president and vice president to disclose their tax returns and beefing up the Hatch Act — would require political committees, candidates and their immediate family to “report to the FBI and the Federal Election Commission (FEC) certain foreign contacts.” The bill would also require the FBI to “report to the congressional intelligence committees any reporting received pursuant to these provisions.” In addition, it “clarifies that the definition of a ‘thing of value’ in the Federal Election Campaign Act prohibition on foreign donations to political campaigns and candidates includes information sought or obtained for political advantage; enhances criminal penalties for violations of such prohibition; requires that political campaigns certify that they understand the prohibition.”
Given that Trump, the leading contender for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024, shows every indication he is willing to continue exploiting ambiguities in election law and seek help from foreign adversaries of the United States, you might think Democrats in Congress would put a greater emphasis on the bill. But after the House passed the bill last year, they have left it to die a quiet death in the Senate.
Well, you might say, Republicans would never go along. If so, it would be a telling sign that the GOP, like Trump, has not learned its lesson and remains willing to enable a politician ready to cede influence in our elections to foreign powers. Democrats should put the bill on the Senate floor and dare Republicans to veto it. Even if the bill does not pass, we will at least have a clear understanding of which party is willing to remain beholden to foreign foes.
