THE 2019 REPUBLICAN DILEMMA.

For two years the Republican Congress has defended and enabled the lies and crimes of Donald Trump. They have slow-walked and even obstructed investigations by the House and the Senate. They have leaked classified information regarding those investigations to Trump. They harassed and denigrated the FBI for investigating legitimate leads into Trump’s misbehaviors. Top FBI officials were eventually fired by Trump in clear actions of obstruction of justice and Republicans looked the other way. Some even cheered.

While the scandals and criminal behavior of Trump’s top aides, Cabinet members and personal lawyer have dominated the headlines over the last two years, the only flimsy excuse the Republicans had left for defending Trump was that he had not been directly implicated or charged in any crimes.

Well, that all ended this past week. Through a plea agreement with Trump’s personal lawyer Michael Cohen and a related grant of immunity to National Enquirer President and Trump’s friend, David Pecker as well as Trump Organization long-time CFO, Allen Wiesselberg, Donald Trump has now been directly connected to several felonies. Two involve campaign-finance law violations for the payment of over $250,000 in secret hush-money to Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal to buy their silence for past sexual affairs. A third felony involves conspiracy to hide these payments by Trump, Pecker (below with Cohen) and Weisselberg (bottom).

Donald Trump is now clearly and directly complicit in three serious felonies — not some bullshit…