Echoing Team Trump, GOP flips on foreign election interference

Over the summer, when Donald Trump told ABC News' George Stephanopoulos he'd accept foreign election interference, there was a brief, bipartisan consensus that the president's position was wrong.

Even Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) was willing to rebuke his White House ally, telling reporters, "A foreign government comes to you as a public official and offers to help your campaign giving you anything of value, whether it be money or information on your opponent, the right answer is no." Around the same time, Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) said, "All of us know, if you were to ever be contacted by a foreign entity, your first call is the FBI." Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) added, "I think it's absolutely something I would never do and that no one should do it."

Everyone was on the same page -- until Trump's impeachment trial. Deputy White House Counsel Patrick Philbin this week endorsed his client's view, telling senators that a president can accept "credible information" from foreign sources, and it wouldn't necessarily count as "campaign interference." The lawyer added, "I think the idea that any information that happens to come from overseas is necessarily campaign interference is a mistake."

Yesterday, Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), the vice chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, wrote, "I still can't believe the President's lawyer tried to convince the United States Senate that foreign election interference isn't a crime." The incredulity is understandable, but as Republican reactions came into sharper focus yesterday, it's worth emphasizing that Trump's defense team didn't just try to convince senators; it seems their efforts had some success. Politico reported:

Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr (R-N.C.) said on Thursday he has "no problem" with a White House lawyer's argument that American politicians can accept damaging information on their opponents from a foreign country -- a proposal that shocked Democrats. [...]

"I have no problem with what Philbin said," Burr told reporters.