President Donald Trump. Photo / AP
As the Trump train spills wildly down the news tracks, Republicans in Congress have been trying on "nothing to see here" faces.
Not all, but most, have kept the President's back during the firing of FBI Director James Comey, even amid frenzied criticism and as long-held political norms have been trampled.
Donald Trump hasn't made it easy for them to smooth over this crisis.
Despite anger from both parties about how Comey handled Hillary Clinton's email saga last year, he was heading the ongoing investigation into the Trump campaign and Russia.
Initially, some Republican legislators said they were 'concerned' or 'troubled' by the sacking. But they clung to Trump's right to fire Comey and the White House's explanation that it was on the recommendation of the Department of Justice and also about the Clinton email server.
Republican Senator James Lankford said that he asked Trump on Thursday about the timing. Lankford told the Washington Post and CNN on Friday that Trump put the onus firmly on Deputy Attorney-General Rod Rosenstein.
Trump then torpedoed that cover story, telling NBC: "I was going to fire Comey. He [Rosenstein] made a recommendation . . . but regardless of recommendation, I was going to fire Comey".
Trump has thrown further fireworks on the bonfire, suggesting he may have tapes of private conversations with Comey; saying he had pressed Comey to tell him if he was under investigation and confirming that the Russia probe was a key factor. He told NBC: "When I decided to [fire Comey], I said to myself, you know, this Russia thing with Trump and Russia is a made up story".
While denying reports that he had asked for a pledge of loyalty from Comey, Trump told Fox News: "I don't think it would be a bad question to ask".
Trump is attracting legal scrutiny with his comments. Remember, judges cited Trump comments on immigration during their legal rulings against the Administration earlier this year. The President's tweet about tapes - "James Comey better hope that there are no 'tapes' of our conversations before he starts leaking to the press!" - has been widely interpreted as threatening.
The New York Times reported that Samuel Buell, a law professor and former federal prosecutor, said Trump's tweet could be seen as an effort to intimidate a witness to any future probe on whether the firing was obstruction of justice. Harvard University law professor Noah Feldman tweeted: "If shown that Trump removed Comey to avoid being investigated? Yes impeachable: abuse of power, corruption, undermines rule of law."
Yet any legal or political consequences for Trump are probably a long way away. Atlantic senior editor and former George W. Bush speechwriter David Frum tweeted: "This isn't remotely like Watergate. During Watergate, Congress cared whether laws had been broken."
While Democrats have focused on pushing for an independent investigation on Russia, Republicans have held firm that Congressional inquiries are sufficient.
The concern is what happens to both Congressional and FBI inquiries now. A new FBI Director - of Trump's liking - will need to be chosen and approved.
The Department of Justice has requested banking records of former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort. The Wall Street Journal reported that for at least the past three weeks Comey had been receiving daily rather than weekly updates on the Russia probe. Comey "was concerned by information showing potential evidence of collusion," sources told the paper.
Beyond the news and outrage lie realities: Republicans control Congress at least until the midterm elections in November 2018, and they do not want to rock the boat. Both an independent investigation and impeachment would require Congressional Republicans to turn on Trump.
New York Times columnist Ross Douthat argued that "liberals need to accept that the strongest case for removing Trump from office is likely to remain a 25th Amendment case: not high crimes and misdemeanors, not collusion with the Russians, but a basic mental unfitness for the office".
But he added: "[Mike] Pence, Paul Ryan, Mitch McConnell - these men made their peace with Trump's unfitness long ago. It will take more than further proof of that unfitness to make them move against him now."
According to a New York Times analysis of how lawmakers reacted to the Comey firing, only one Republican called for a special prosecutor into the Russia probe (compared to 139 Democrats or Independents), six called for an independent investigation (85 Democrats), while 41 said they had questions or concerns (eight Democrats).
House Speaker Paul Ryan said: "I'm focusing on what's in my control, and that is what is Congress doing to solve people's problems. I'm going leave it to the President to talk about and defend his tweets."
Most of the criticism from the right has come from commentators, former strategists and former officials. Not legislators.
Former John McCain adviser Mark Salter tweeted: "Words I thought I'd never say: the security of the United States might now depend on electing a Democratic Congress in 2018."
CNN contributor and former Ted Cruz campaign official Amanda Carpenter tweeted: "We knew what [Trump] was. I am furious at everyone in the GOP who enabled this ridiculous behaviour."
Fox News commentator Charles Krauthammer attacked Trump for his warning tweet to Comey. "All of a sudden you're raising something nobody had imagined and saying you better watch out. That's un-presidential, which is kind of a nice way of saying that that sounds more like a mafia boss than the president of a free republic."
American Conservative writer, Rod Dreher, said of the tape tweet: "This is banana republic stuff. This man is out of control. How can we have a functioning government if the President feels entitled to threaten blackmail, and every single official who meets with him in the White House has to worry that they're being bugged?"
Yet while Trump's job approval is low overall - about 40 per cent on average - he is much more popular with Republican voters than the US public generally.
Republicans in Congress are trying to get key parts of their policy agenda through before the midterms. So far the Republican leadership has managed to incorporate Trump into that agenda - including tax reform, the rolling back of Obamacare and deregulation.
An NBC poll released on Friday showed that White House and Congressional Republican policies and decisions - on Comey, the Russia claims, the American Health Care Act, Trump's tax plan - are popular with Republicans. The Washington Post reported that across a range of issues there is a pattern: "Republicans being enthusiastic, while independents are sceptical and Democrats furious".
A Quinnipiac University poll last week said 82 per cent of Republicans approve of how Trump is handling his job. Gallup puts it at 84 per cent. With that level of party support it would be politically difficult for party leaders to take stances against the President. With Trump and Republicans chiming on the issues, they wouldn't want to. Both sides benefit politically, at present, from sticking close to each other. And Republicans have flourished at the local, state and Congressional level during the past eight years, even without a Republican in the White House.
The Quinnipiac poll showed some danger signs. It gave Trump a negative 36 - 58 per cent job approval rating overall and said the President is losing support among independent voters (29 - 63 per cent) and groups which are important parts of his base. Specifically: "A split among white voters with no college degree, as 47 per cent approve and 46 per cent disapprove, compared to a 57 - 38 per cent approval April 19; white men go from a 53 - 41 per cent approval April 19 to a split today with 48 per cent approving and 46 per cent disapproving."
Bloomberg reporter Sahil Kapur tweeted: "It's often asked what it'd take for Republicans to seriously go against Trump. Pretty simple: his poll numbers w/ GOP voters have to crash."
Republicans have bought a fight with the wider public over the healthcare repeal, which will hit millions and be central to Democrat efforts to take control of Congress in the midterms. And Trump is the biggest walking recruiting poster the left could hope for - a focus point for activists and fundraisers. The fact that independents are tracking much closer to Democrats than Republicans is bad news for Trump in terms of re-election. Trump drew 31 per cent of his votes from independents last year.
Douthat wrote: "This week reminded us why Donald Trump should not be the president of the United States. But if you wish to remove him, think on 2020. The rest, for now, is noise."
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