The National Interest: Blunt Instruments Of Power

Another astonishing victory redefines what the presidency is.

- Jonathan Chait

The period of time since Attorney General William Barr released his summary of Robert Mueller’s investigation has been the most ebullient one for Republicans since the 2016 election. The pattern is familiar: vindication and emotional displays of dominance on the right, shock and searching selfdoubt mixed with intense recriminations on the left. What unites both sides, victors and vanquished alike, is a belief that Trump has rewritten the rules of American politics.

Just as he violated every law of running for president and still won, he broke every rule a president must supposedly follow when under investigation. For generations, Americans have been instructed that “the cover-up is worse than the crime.” Every defense lawyer warns subjects of investigation not to shoot their mouths off on television and especially not to tell a series of lies. Yet Trump did all these things and still prevailed.

Just as it did after the election, Blue America is confronting the delusions that led to its shocking letdown. In this case, justifiable belief both in Mueller’s capabilities and in the extensive evidence of wrongdoing by Trump’s campaign produced erroneous confidence in the legal system. That Trump’s involvement with Russia would yield a criminal violation was never anything close to a certainty.