Ex US senators warn of ‘constitutional crisis’ under Trump

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PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA - DECEMBER 08: President Donald Trump waves as he takes his seat before the game between the Army Black Knights and the Navy Midshipmen at Lincoln Financial Field on December 08, 2018 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Elsa/Getty Images/AFP

WASHINGTON, Dec 11, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Forty-four former US Senators from
both major US parties warned Monday of threats to US democracy under
President Donald Trump, and a “constitutional crisis” for America.

They said the convergence of events — as special counsel Robert Mueller
probes whether Trump’s campaign colluded with Russia to tilt the 2016
election in his favor, and a soon-to-be Democrat-led House starts launching
related investigations — made for highly precarious political waters.

The 44 include Democrats such as Bill Bradley and John Kerry and
Republicans such as Ben Nighthorse Campbell and Richard Lugar, and they paint
the situation ominously as a constitutional crisis.

“It is our shared view that we are entering a dangerous period, and we
feel an obligation to speak up about serious challenges to the rule of law,
the Constitution, our governing institutions and our national security,” the
ex-lawmakers wrote in a Washington Post opinion piece Monday.

“We are at an inflection point in which the foundational principles of our
democracy and our national security interests are at stake, and the rule of
law and the ability of our institutions to function freely and independently
must be upheld,” they wrote.

And “at other critical moments in our history, when constitutional crises
have threatened our foundations, it has been the Senate that has stood in
defense of our democracy. Today is once again such a time,” the group
stressed.

They urged current and future members of the US Senate to make sure that
“partisanship or self-interest not replace national interest.” Bipartisan
cooperation has plunged with Trump in power.

How lawmakers in both houses of Congress handle the crisis will be key to
how the nation handles Trump’s being its first sitting president implicated
in a felony.

Referred to as “Individual-1,” Trump was directly implicated in ordering
payments to alleged ex-lovers — which prosecutors believe sought to
influence the outcome of the election.