When it comes to literacy and an interest in learning through the written word, Republicans have struggled to an unsettling degree lately. The party took a keen interest in the recent Durham report, for example, but a great many leading GOP voices made clear that they hadn’t read it.
Republicans also didn’t read the criminal indictment stemming from Donald Trump’s classified documents scandal. What’s more, the party didn’t read the Mueller report. Or the Senate Intelligence Committee’s findings on the Russia scandal. Or the Justice Department inspector general’s report on the investigation into the Russia scandal. They also condemned the contents of Trump's indictment in New York before it was unsealed.
It’s not that the party was uninterested in the subject matter. Rather, GOP officials were simply confident that their assumptions were correct, and they didn’t much see the need to read materials that might introduce them to information that might challenge their preferred beliefs.
All of this came to mind on Tuesday, as Trump confirmed that he’s likely to soon be indicted again: Special counsel Jack Smith’s office has apparently told the former president he’s the target of a criminal investigation into efforts to overturn the 2020 election. The Hill reported soon after:
Republicans defended former President Trump after he announced Tuesday he was the target of the federal Jan. 6 investigation focusing on his efforts to overturn the 2020 election, criticizing the government for his prosecution. ... Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) also ramped up her attacks on the Justice Department after Trump announced his news, saying that it is “absolute bulls—” to reporters. She said that the charges are “ridiculous” and that Smith is “weaponizing” the Justice Department against Trump.
There’s no real point in quoting the dozens of GOP voices who spoke out, most of whom expressed their outrage in similar ways. Suffice it to say, Greene’s reaction was common.
But let’s not overlook the relevant detail: None of the Republicans defending the former president have seen the target letter, the possible indictment, or any of the underlying evidence. They don’t even know what crimes Trump might be charged with.
What’s more, this keeps happening. The GOP scrambled to defend Trump around the time of his indictment in New York, despite having no idea what the indictment said or what it might entail. The party did the same thing when Smith charged the former president the first time, failing to even consider the contents of a devastating federal indictment. Now, predictably, Republicans are doing the same thing, condemning a possible indictment they don’t care to read.
Let’s make this plain: When Republicans repeatedly condemn indictments they haven’t seen, they give away the game: The GOP doesn’t care about the charges or their merits. What the party does care about is putting Trump above legal accountability.
The special counsel’s likely indictment — assuming it will soon exist — might be unpersuasive, or it might be devastating. It might be thin, or it might be based on overwhelming evidence. Either way, the former president’s partisans will ignore it.
It’s not as if any of us can imagine one of Trump’s allies reading the indictment and issuing a statement soon after that reads, “On second thought, it looks like prosecutors have assembled a strong case here.” Republicans have settled on a conclusion — the corrupt former president is pure as the driven snow — and they’re working backward to justify their loyalty.
In the meantime, when I say Republicans defending the former president have no idea what they’re talking about, I’m being rather literal.
This post updates our related recent coverage.