gracchusdixit

It is frequently proclaimed by pundits and politicians, by lawyers and historians, that our country will face a “constitutional crisis” if Donald Trump moves to fire Robert Mueller, the special counsel investigating Russian intervention in the 2016 presidential election.  The truth of the matter is that we already face such a crisis.  We are simply loath to admit it—because such an admission would expose one of the most fundamental and perilous flaws in our system of government.

The crisis I am referring to concerns the legitimacy of the 2016 election itself.

Whatever Robert Mueller ultimately discovers, we already have more than enough evidence to conclude that the “election” of Donald Trump as President of the United States was unlawful:

• To begin with, we know that the voting records of at least seven states—and probably many more—were, to quote the Federal Bureau of Investigation, “compromised” by the Russians.  The Trump White House and complicit Republicans in Congress continue to insist that no evidence exists proving that actual votes were tampered with.  That is only because neither the federal government nor any of the states affected have thus far conducted a true forensic investigation of voting records.  Instead, they prefer to avert their eyes from the unspeakable reality that is staring them in the face.

• We know that 13 Russian individuals and three Russian entities, at least one of which is funded by the Kremlin, have been indicted for interfering in the election, with the specific purpose of benefitting Donald Trump.

• We know that the FBI is investigating a Russian oligarch close to Vladimir Putin, who funneled millions of dollars to the National Rifle Association, which in turn poured millions more into the Trump campaign.  The NRA is attempting to stonewall the investigation but, tellingly, has not dared to deny the allegations.

• We know that the personal profiles of more than 50 million Facebook users were stolen by a political consulting firm working for Trump and then used illegally to manipulate the attitudes and votes of those users.  That this occurred is no longer in dispute.  After months of trying to cover it up, Facebook itself has finally fessed up.

• We know that the same firm which stole Facebook user data, Cambridge Analytica, sent dozens of foreign nationals into the United States to help the Trump campaign, against the explicit warning of its own attorneys that to do so would be a crime.  The crime was committed, nonetheless, and it was approved by Trump’s one-time senior adviser, Steve Bannon, who not only worked for Trump but was a senior executive and board member at Cambridge Analytica.

• We know that the Attorney General of the United States lied to Congress—more than once—when he denied under oath having met with Russian officials while he was actively working on the Trump campaign.  We know that he lied again when he claimed that had “pushed back” against proposals to initiate additional and even more consequential contacts between Russian officials and the campaign.

• And we know that other members of the Trump campaign, including the president’s own son and son-in-law, were eager to cooperate with Russians who promised to provide damaging information regarding Trump’s opponent, Hillary Clinton.  That sort of cooperation is illegal.  It might even be treasonous.

None of these facts is in dispute, and they are merely a few of the indisputable facts that will undoubtedly appear on a much longer writ of future indictments.  Taken together, they lead to one conclusion and one conclusion only:  the 2016 presidential election was stolen, either by Donald Trump himself or by those striving to advance his candidacy.  By any sensible standard, that election should be nullified, and a new election should be held.

There is, of course, a problem.

The problem is that the framers of our constitution, as wise and far-sighted as they undoubtedly were, did not see this sort of thing coming.  Although the framers were thoroughly suspicious of the potential for foreign influence to corrupt our domestic politics (that’s why our constitution includes a clause prohibiting “emoluments”), they never contemplated the possibility that an entire national election might someday be stolen and therefore delegitimized.  As a result, they made no provisions to prevent such a possibility or to remedy the situation if it occurred.

Thus it is that we find ourselves at the bottom of a constitutional rabbit hole, with no obvious means of escape.  If the Mueller investigation concludes that the Trump campaign actively conspired with the Russians to rig the 2016 election, Trump himself could, in theory, be impeached for “high crimes and misdemeanors”.  He might even be indicted.   But even if Mueller does not reach such a conclusion, the fact will remain that the election was rigged.  Whether or not Trump personally committed a crime is therefore, in a certain sense, irrelevant.

The question of Donald Trump’s personal guilt or innocence will not change the fact that the 2016 election was unlawful.  It will not change the fact that the present occupant of the Oval Office is not the legitimately elected President of the United States.  And it will not change the fact that there is nothing our deeply flawed constitution can do about it.  That is the crisis.  That is the crisis that is already upon us.