Just after last fall’s midterm elections, Republicans in Congress were outraged by their historic underperformance and seemed poised to dump Trump.

Former President Trump is facing waves of recrimination after leading Republican candidates lost midway through the election, Axios Mike Allen ran his influential daily newsletter. The list of explanations for GOP underperformance is long, but it’s at the top DONALD TRUMP, Politico Playbook stated. A Trump adviser told ABC News: This is a sinking ship.

A few months after labeling the former president their greatest political responsibility, one might expect Republicans to view this week’s news of his impending criminal indictment as the offramp they’ve been longing for.

But House Speaker Kevin McCarthy sounded as committed as ever to the man who nearly cost him the majority. During a House GOP retreat, California Republican Manhattan Dist. considerate Alvin Bragg’s investigation of a scandalous abuse of power by a radical prosecutor who runs violent criminals as he pursues political revenge against President Trump.

McCarthy then directed congressional committees to launch an investigation into Manhattan

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office. Committee Chairs Jim Jordan, James Comer and Bryan Steil promptly sent a letter to Bragg demanding that he appear before them and turn over all documents and testimony related to the investigation.

So rather than abandon Trump, as Washington Republicans have privately claimed for some time now, they are trying to use the reins of power to obstruct an ongoing investigation and shield the former president from persecution.

Anyone who thinks that the Republicans really have a desire to get rid of Trump should give up on this fantasy. At this point, Republicans like McCarthy are not hostages of the former president; they are his volunteers and strive to accommodate.

The US Congress has no legitimate reason to interfere with an active investigation by a New York district attorney. “It is a blatant abuse of power that sets a dangerous precedent and threatens to upend the justice system. The suggestion is that it is the right province of Congress to become directly involved in independent judicial proceedings to the point where evidence and testimony are collected and made public.” record before the case is even tried.

Imagine the GOP’s uproar if a Democratic-controlled congressional committee launched a similar investigation into a Republican prosecutor’s case against a prominent Democrat. They would go crazy.

The message Republicans are sending from McCarthy is very clear: If you are investigating crimes that may have been committed by prominent Republicans, we will investigate you. The GOP might as well declare an amnesty for fraud and other white-collar crimes. They want law enforcement to use their resources to scrutinize communities of color, not those who are rich, powerful, or white. The Republican apparatus has dedicated itself to aiding and abetting an entire class of criminals.

If you commit sedition, as the January 6 insurgents did, they will declare you a political prisoner and organize a congressional visit to your cell. If you cheat supporters of more than a million dollars, as former Trump adviser Steve Bannon reportedly did, you will be pardoned. If you see a mysterious $2

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billions of investment from a foreign power, as Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner did, any investigation will be tacitly halted. If you make up your whole life story, as New York Representative George Santos did, you can still be a member of Congress. If you turn a blind eye to sexual abuse from college athletes you’ve coached, like Rep. Jordan allegedly did, you could still chair the House Judiciary Committee. And if you were accused of molesting your college girlfriend, like Rep. Comer, you could still run the House Oversight Committee.

Obviously, if you are a Republican seeking high office, criminal conduct is not a disqualification; it is a requirement passed. Turning the House of Representatives into a glorified conspiracy to obstruct justice is the latest manifestation of the party’s enthusiastic embrace of organized crime.

Kurt Bardella is a contributing writer for Opinion, a Democratic strategist and former senior adviser to Republicans on the House Oversight Committee.

@KurtBardella