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The right-wing reaction to Donald Trump’s ballot disqualification in Colorado is a reminder that Republicans trot out claims of petty “partisanship” every time their dear leader is met with accountability. But the claims don’t withstand even the mildest scrutiny.
GOPers would have you believe that the many attempts to hold Trump civilly or criminally liable for his actions have all been part of some Democrat-led scheme, when in reality, many of the cases rely on Republicans’ testimony — often from onetime members of Trump’s inner circle — and/or were even initiated by a Republican.
Let’s take the Colorado Supreme Court’s ruling, for example. Republicans are harping on the fact that all of the court’s justices were appointed by Democrats, claiming that this shows partisanship — never mind that their party has tried to pack state and federal courts with Republicans for years.
What right-wingers are conveniently ignoring is the fact that the case was brought by six Republican and unaffiliated voters in Colorado (and that three of the Democrat-appointed state justices voted in Trump’s favor). A similar lawsuit seeking to disqualify Trump from the Arizona ballot was filed by a long-shot Republican presidential candidate.
Meanwhile, the former president’s two election-related criminal cases — which also have led to accusations of partisanship — rely heavily on Republicans.
Multiple right-wingers who were in Trump’s inner circle — lawyers Kenneth Chesebro, Jenna Ellis and Sidney Powell — have already taken plea deals and agreed to testify in his Georgia election interference and racketeering case. And Trump’s federal case in Washington relies on a long list of Republican witnesses, including Trump’s former vice president and his former chief of staff. (Trump has pleaded not guilty to all charges.)
But let’s go further back, shall we?
Trump’s first impeachment, over withholding aid from Ukraine in an attempt to help his re-election campaign, relied on testimony from several members of his own administration.
The Trump-Russia investigation before that, led by a Republican prosecutor, ultimately concluded that the Trump campaign had welcomed Russia’s help in the 2016 election and that Trump might have obstructed justice. And when Trump’s hand-picked Republican attorney general set out to prove that Robert Mueller’s investigation had been a partisan witch hunt, he failed mightily.
Simply put, the GOP’s claims that Trump is being subjected to political targeting ignore the fact that Republicans have played an essential role in — if not led — many of the efforts to hold him accountable.