An honest examination of the events of this past week leads inexorably to the conclusion that the Republican Party, from top to bottom, is nothing more than a criminal enterprise. They are unabashed in their naked pursuit of power and pecuniary gain at any cost, no longer bothering with the pretense of fealty to the Constitution or any vaunted patriotic ideals. This may sound hyperbolic, but not if we look at the evidence. This week alone, we’ve seen a now victorious Republican Congressional candidate respond to a reporter’s legitimate question on his position on the AHCA in light of the CBO score by violently assaulting the reporter. Even more disturbing than Gianforte’s assault was the number of Republican politicians and commentators who excused it or mocked Ben Jacobs’ decision to press charges. From Governor Greg Abbott joking about shooting reporters to Laura Ingraham jokingly comparing Jacobs to the victim of high school bullying, the layers of wrong are almost too numerous to unpack. The common thread is that Republicans are endorsing violence as an appropriate response to inconvenient policy questions from members of the press.
We also learned this week that Florida GOP operative, Aaron Nevins, communicated with the hacker behind the DNC leaks, Guccifer 2.0, and invited him to forward stolen documents relating to DCCC campaign strategies. Guccifer forwarded documents that contained detailed Democrats’ voter file analysis and GOTV strategies, which Nevins posted on his anonymous blog, HelloFLa.com. Nevins also alerted Trump advisor Roger Stone that the information was readily available on his blog. We can be sure that, at a minimum, Republican Congressional candidates used stolen information to develop their campaign strategy. It is equally likely that Republican state officials used the information to tailor their voter suppression efforts for maximum impact.
Lastly, late last night both The Washington Post and The New York Times reported that Jared Kushner asked Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak to set up a clandestine back channel of communication for Kushner and Mike Flynn to communicate with Russian officials. Although the Times and Post differ on whether Kushner’s goal in establishing this highly unorthodox back channel was naive or nefarious, both outlets also reported that Kushner met with Sergei Gorkov, the head of sanctioned Russian bank, Vnesheconombank, at a time when he was frantically seeking financing for his family’s property at 666 Fifth Avenue. It is entirely plausible that Kushner needed a covert back channel inaccessible to the U.S. government because he sought financing from a Russian bank that was legally prohibited from doing business in the United States.
We should be aware that the federal RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization) statute, 18 U.S.C. 1346, allows for prosecution of enterprises engaged in an ongoing pattern of criminal activity. Among the 35 “predicate offenses” that can constitute the basis for a RICO indictment are obstruction of justice, money laundering and mail and wire fraud. We have learned of the alleged commission of numerous predicate acts by Republican politicians in the past week alone. From the Oval Office down to local political operatives, the Republican Party has revealed itself to be an organization willing to resort to violence, fraud and other criminal acts to retain power at any cost. Don’t EVER let them call us thugs again.