Thread by @Zathras3

I don't take this already much-shared @NBCNews report by @carolelee @kwelkernbc & @mikememoli as definitive of anything about the incoming Biden administration, including @JoeBiden's personal thinking. Early days still. With that said...[thread] nbcnews.com/politics/justi…

A good rule of thumb for looking back at the Trump administration is this: you either defend the rule of law, or you don't.

Trump has objected violently throughout his life to being bound by the rule of law. He will object violently to prosecutions, investigations, anything.

The United States is in too precarious a political position for the government to concede anything to obduracy of this kind. There is no moderate, comfortable middle ground between faithful execution of the laws and acceptance of lawlessness from the most powerful citizens.

Opinions vary on how many federal prosecutions could be brought against Trump, and about the relative importance of legal proceedings vs. a full accounting of the damage done by his administration. @joshtpm has a thoughtful argument about this here. talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/turning…

It's important to remember Trump, and therefore Republicans in Congress, will resent and resist either criminal prosecutions of Trump and his associates or any attempt to account for the damage done by his administration. They won't acknowledge any difference between them.

We ought to have learned the crucial lesson during the impeachment proceedings last year. The House of Representatives then chose the narrowest possible grounds on which to impeach President Trump, an abuse of power with respect to Ukraine....

....for which there was a simple story, ample evidence, numerous witnesses, everything. The House chose not to pursue charges related to personal corruption, inviting Russian help to become President, obstructing Mueller's probe, contempt of Congress or several other subjects.

This was framed at the time as a strategic choice. What it actually meant was surrender by the House to Trump's lawbreaking & abuse of power. The surrender gained House Democrats nothing w/Republicans in Congress, whose loyalty to Trump was impervious to witnesses or evidence.

Nor did Republican loyalty to Trump abate after Senate Republicans voted to declare him above the law. Abuses of power excluded from impeachment proceedings ended up being excluded from political discussion as well. They became acceptable.

This is the precedent with which the incoming Biden administration must reckon. Now, what I hope it will do is establish its leadership within the Justice Department, and proceed to pursue every prosecution for which there is evidence, without involving the President at all.

This would be appropriate. It would not allow the new administration to escape Republican charges of bias against Trump. Nor would any investigation or audit by, or authorized by, Congress be allowed to proceed without Republican obstruction and cries of persecution.

There is no "moving on" from Trump without surrender on issues fundamental to the rule of law. A Biden administration can do all the other things it must as we enter what is sure to be a challenging period, but must not entertain illusions about pretending Trump didn't happen.