There’s an aspect to Trump’s astonishing statement about accepting dirt on his opponents from a foreign source that I think has not been mentioned yet. Everyone is focused on his admission — his boast — that he would commit a federal crime by soliciting* and accepting foreign help, but lost in the shouting over that is another point:
The president of the United States invited hostile foreign powers to spy on American citizens, some of whom are federal officials.
Let’s be clear about this. The commander-in-chief, the person who swore an oath to protect us from all enemies foreign and domestic, just invited our foreign enemies to attack us. And this from the man who STILL thinks the Obama administration spied on his campaign in 2016, and who has set his personal attorney (a/k/a the Attorney General of the United States) to “prove” it.
This is more than just hanging an “Open for Business” or “For Sale” sign on the Oval Office.This is beyond neglect of his duties; it is deliberate malfeasance with malice aforethought. It is also no longer a crime he might commit; it is a crime he has just committed in public, in full view of the nation. And it calls for an impeachment inquiry to be opened now.
* Trump committed this crime in 2016 with that infamous line: “Russia, if you’re listening….” I have to wonder why the FEC didn’t charge him with solicitation back then.