A totally predictable Bloomberg op-ed by Jonathan Bernstein is headlined “What Could Be More Impeachable Than Clemency for Roger Stone?” Bernstein fulminates: “By commuting the prison sentence of Roger Stone, President Donald Trump has made his contempt for the rule of law plain for all to see. Clemency for a crony convicted of interfering with an investigation of presidential malfeasance is a flagrant abuse of power…. Trump simply has given up on even the pretense of respecting the rule of law and honoring his oath of office. Rather than follow his oath to `preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States,’ Trump is trampling on that document and all it means. The only question is what to do about it. And that comes down to Republicans.”
Bernstein argues that the Republicans really should use the Stone case to jettison Trump now. “The oddity of the situation is that the Stone clemency gives them a last chance that they don’t deserve.… But if Republicans wanted an escape hatch — and they should, given how he’s dragging down the party and is apparently unable to do much these days other than feel sorry for himself — now they have one.”
Alas, Bernstein sighs, it isn’t going to happen. “Will that happen? Of course not. South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham has already spoken in favor of the President’s action.… A united Republican Party finally ending this lawless Presidency would be the best thing for the nation and for the party. It isn’t going to happen, and chances are that the failure will be punished harshly in November.”
