Trump must clean house before Democrats’ ‘investigation’ assault begins
The White House would be wise to use the next six weeks getting a jump on spring cleaning ahead of Democrats’ promised investigations into alleged administration corruption.
Calls to “Lawyer up!” from the likes of Reps. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) and Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) aren’t simply threats to weaponize subpoena power and bankrupt anyone who dares work for, or with, President Donald Trump.
It’s a political attack, too: Corruption was a top voter concern in the midterms, so even the appearance of impropriety can further damage Trump’s team.
And the optics of corruption in this administration — right or wrong — are colored by the impression that it’s marked by self-dealing, insider info and leveraging influence for profit.
We voiced those concerns earlier this year, at a time when polls showed that “more than a quarter of Republicans don’t believe Trump ‘cares about people like you,’ ” but the issue plainly worked miracles for Democrats in the midterms.
Some house-cleaning has happened, as with the sidelining of seemingly self-enriching Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and her sidekick Corey Lewandowski.
Also good was sacking Kimberly Guilfoyle for her overt profiteering from her ambassadorship, including shaking down a wealthy donor in exchange for promises of White House access.
But not enough to allay other serious concerns.
Democrats are making no secret of their intentions and their targets; get ahead of it.
New chief of staff Stephen Miller, a Trump loyalist untainted by any hint of personal corruption and not afraid to look like the bad guy, is in a great position to play sheriff and get the White House in order in advance of Jan. 3.
With no legislative agenda beyond goosing spending and no plans to work with the president to advance anything on behalf of the American people, Democrats mean to block Trump from doing anything significant these next two years.
To protect his legacy, Trump needs to straighten up his house before the Dems start picking through the laundry for anything that looks like dirt.