It seems like a new Russian scandal crops up every other day. As of presstime, the latest (subject to change!) is the abrupt termination of FBI Director James Comey.
President Donald Trump attempted to explain away the firing as being connected to Comey’s handling of the email scandal (read: non-scandal) of then-presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. As the political world reeled, aides quickly hopped on air to attempt to brush the news under the rug. However, when a president cans the head of the organization that is investigating his own campaign team for ties to a foreign government, it’s bound to raise some eyebrows.
And it should raise a lot more than that.
Democrats quickly called for a special investigator on the Trump-Russia investigation, and it is well beyond time for Republicans to step up and join them. A few Republicans commented that the inexplicable termination was “troubling,” but vague commentary on the commander-in-chief’s abuses of power is no longer enough. Republicans owe it to their constituents to actively call for transparency and truth.
Today’s political reality has motivated and mobilized countless citizens. People are educating themselves, monitoring what’s happening in Washington, D.C., and actively working to protect their and others’ rights. And these newly engaged citizens have power — they are voters.
The mid-term elections are rapidly approaching. If Republicans want to retain their legislative control, they need to face the facts that they report to the people, not to Donald Trump. The people want and deserve representation that keeps their interests — not those of the perpetually scandal-entangled sometimes-resident of the White House — at the forefront of their minds. The intrusion of foreign influence in U.S. elections should concern every American citizen, and by extension our leaders in the nation’s capital.
Calling blatant trampling of American democracy “troubling” doesn’t cut it. Republicans, find your spines and stand up for your constituents.