Hell for Republicans? Not So Fast!

Will an entire generation of voters begin to shun the Republican Party because they will “forever” associate it with the way Republicans in Congress are trying to cover up Donald Trump’s crimes?

That is what former Republican adviser Kurt Bardella, who became a Democrat in 2017, recently predicted. He is visibly outraged by the behavior of these elected officials — and we have no argument with that! — and seems to believe that they are digging their own graves.

Trump will be acquitted by Republican senators at the end of the impeachment trial; that was predictable from the beginning. But we also maintain that Republicans have decided to undermine its legitimacy. Thus, this week, they may prevent the appearance of important witnesses who could incriminate the president. That includes John Bolton, the former national security advisor, who is about to publish a book in which he reveals — we learned on Sunday — that the U.S. president told him he would continue to block nearly $400 million of aid intended for Ukraine, as long as that country refused to carry out investigations into the Democrats (including Joe Biden’s son).*

Last week, some Republican leaders even took pleasure in mocking the trial. “The problem, for many of us, is to stay awake enough to follow this. I suggest that Americans change the channel and watch something else,” said North Carolina Republican Sen. Mark Meadows, when it was the Democratic prosecutors’ turn to speak.*

This behavior from Republicans who sit in Congress is not surprising. With a few rare exceptions, they have all defended Trump tooth and nail since the beginning of his presidency.

Still, that does not make their attitude any more acceptable. In the specific context of the impeachment trial, it is particularly reprehensible. It renders the process almost futile. The trial is likely to end with the president’s acquittal by the end of this week, without enabling anyone to really shed any light on his behavior.*

To make things worse, Republicans are complaining that they haven’t learned anything new … when they are responsible for the situation! It’s their fault that the trial is rigged!

It is true that Democratic congressman Adam Schiff, who is the lead House manager in the trial, has been particularly effective. He explained last week in a meticulous and elegant manner why Trump stands accused of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.

But aside from this performance, the fact is that Americans have not had much to sink their teeth into, even though the Democrats had 24 hours to make their case. Nothing, at least, to make the noose tighten any more around the president.

From a strictly utilitarian point of view, you can understand the attitude of U.S. congressional Republicans. The evidence amassed to date is overwhelming in this case. Everything indicates that Trump blackmailed Ukraine and went against American interests with the goal of promoting his own reelection. This is still an open wound, and the less we scratch it in public, the better off Trump will be.

Morally, of course, it’s a completely different story: The conduct of Republican leaders is unacceptable. It is also strictly political.

By protecting their president now, they are endorsing his mistakes. By offering him their unwavering support, they are giving him carte blanche for the future.

We can therefore console ourselves if we think, like Kurt Bardella, that this is just temporary, that elected Republican officials will end up paying for this outrage.

The problem with this theory is that it seems to stem mainly from a desire to trade dreams for reality.

In the absence of a crystal ball, we are forced to look at history. In doing so, we stop at the Watergate scandal, which forced Republican Richard Nixon to resign in disgrace in the 1970s. The Republican Party’s purgatory did not last very long.

Gerald Ford, Nixon’s Republican successor, was narrowly beaten by Democrat Jimmy Carter. Four years later, Carter was humiliated by another Republican, Ronald Reagan, who had a profound impact on American society.

However, we are even more divided today. So even if Trump sought to tarnish Biden’s reputation and cheat in order to be reelected — as Democratic Rep. Schiff has demonstrated — he could very well succeed in winning next November.

If this trial ends the same week it started, if Republicans continue to hinder its normal course, they will prove to us that they have signed a pact with the devil. But politically, it would be wise to be a bit guarded in predicting that they’ll go to hell.

*Editor’s note: The Senate voted against calling witnesses in the Trump impeachment trial on Jan. 31. The Senate voted to acquit Trump of impeachment charges on Feb. 6.