2018-01-08 – The Republican leadership knew about Trump’s mental and moral unfitness to be president long before the 2016 election—even before the nomination. That’s why there was a stop-Trump movement before the convention—even without a likely candidate to replace him.

They all knew. They all knew that Trump was less than a lightweight on issues. They knew he had supported democratic candidates before he became a Republican candidate. They knew he had little understanding. They knew he was a lousy businessman. They knew he was a philanderer and abuser. They knew he could barely put two sentences together.

They all knew. They knew that, because of his failed businesses, he was in hock up to his comb-over hair to the Russians. They knew that he was using his real estate deals to launder money for Russian oligarchs. They knew he was cozying up to them in the run-up to the election. I knew all these things, so they must have known. Jeff Sessions wasn’t the only Republican who knew. (Remember, Sessions recused himself from participating in any investigation of Trump because of his personal knowledge.)

Mental unfitness and moral unfitness.

I wrote last May about whether Donald Trump could use the insanity defense if he is impeached and goes to trial in the Senate. Impeachment, by and large, is about moral unfitness. Did the president commit “Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors”?

If impeachment were to come about, his Republican supporters could be seen as accessories to the crime(s).

Impeachment is not the only way to remove a president from office under the Constitution. The 25th Amendment allows the vice president and a majority of the cabinet to remove a president by certifying to the Congress that the president is “unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office. This procedure is about mental (or physical) unfitness.

There are no accessories to mental unfitness (though there may be enablers).

The conventional wisdom currently says that neither of these procedures will be used to remove President Trump. But the Washington Post now says that Special Counsel Robert Mueller will likely seek to interview Trump. This is an ominous hint that Mueller’s investigation has found damaging evidence against the president. Mueller is not investigating Trump’s mental fitness. He is investigating moral fitness: specifically, whether Trump violated any laws.

As Mueller’s investigation zeroes in on its target, Republicans are certainly wondering what a Trump prosecution could mean to them. They certainly don’t want to be seen as accessories—not in a legal sense and not in a political sense.

But you can’t be an accessory to mental unfitness.

Could this be why the news is so occupied with talk of Trump’s mental unfitness? Sure, there’s a book just out, but the author’s informants were all Republicans! Are they hoping to distract us from a potential impeachment or criminal prosecution to save their own skins (and the skins of the Republican leadership)?

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