One sign that the Republicans know the presidential election is all over but the crying is that they are already thinking of ways to hamstring a future President Clinton with congressional investigations. As NBC News’ Alex Seitz-Wald and Benjy Sarlin report,
In the last few weeks alone, dozens of House Republicans have demanded that a special prosecutor investigate the Clinton Foundation for possible conflicts of interest. Sen. Ted Cruz has called for a “serious criminal investigation” into a Democratic operative featured in a sting video by conservative activist James O’Keefe. And Speaker Paul Ryan promised “aggressive oversight work in the House” of an alleged “quid pro quo” deal between the FBI and the State Department over reclassifying an email on Clinton’s private server.
Tom Fitton, president of Judicial Watch, a conservative group long at the forefront of legal harassment of both Bill and Hillary Clinton, wants to go further. According to Seitz-Wald and Sarlin, Fitton is critical of “Republican lawmakers for failing to pre-emptively impeach Clinton.”
Preemptive impeachment would be an innovation in American presidential politics, but it certainly shows foresight. If your goal is to make Clinton’s presidency a nightmare of gridlock and partisan strife, why not start early?