Warned of a constitutional crisis

06/15/17 08:43 AM
By Steve Benen

... Trump insisted that Clinton, as president, couldn’t possibly be expected to govern – because the investigation into her email server protocols would make such an endeavor impossible.

Of course, at the time, the federal investigation into Clinton’s emails had wrapped up, and the FBI found no criminal wrongdoing. Trump’s rhetoric served as fuel for his rabid followers, but it had no meaningful basis in reality.

But about eight months later, his rhetoric is suddenly relevant anew – because it’s Trump who is now a sitting president who’s under a criminal investigation, facing allegations he obstructed justice as part of the Russia scandal. It leads to a question the White House should at least try to answer: does Trump still believe the nation is forced to endure a “protracted constitutional crisis” when the American president is the subject of a federal probe?

It’s not just Trump and his team who should face the question. The week before Election Day, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) told a group of voters, “Obviously, we all understand the importance of this presidential race. I would just ask everybody this: Can this country afford to have a president under investigation by the FBI? Think of the trauma that would do to this country” ...

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/trump-warned-constitutional-crisis-if-president-faced-investigation