Biden must appoint a special counsel to root out 'power-mad' Trump's corruption: conservative

On Monday, writing for The Washington Post, conservative columnist Max Boot outlined the damage done by outgoing President Donald Trump's apparent threatening call with the Georgia secretary of state — and what President-elect Biden should do about it.

"Trump sounds both power-mad and simply mad," wrote Boot. "It is hard to imagine a greater — or more predictable — threat to our constitutional order. From the start, Trump's critics have been warning that he cannot be trusted with the awesome power of the presidency because he will abuse it for his own personal gain. When will the Always Trumpers admit the Never Trumpers were right? The only thing we didn't anticipate — and still don't fully understand — was the extent of his transgressions."

Biden, wrote Boot, has to authorize a special counsel to investigate this scandal, as well as his past conduct like the Ukraine plot.

"The Biden administration will need to carry out an urgent act of political sanitation," wrote Boot. "The new president must appoint a special counsel or commission (possibly both) to unearth the myriad offenses the Trump administration has committed, recommend reforms and bring the perpetrators to justice — or at least subject them to the public ignominy that they deserve." Meanwhile, public servants who blew the whistle on Trump's malfeasance, like retired Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, should receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom and other accolades to set an example.

"Corruption, like the coronavirus, is a virus that can spread rapidly and ravage a country. (Look at Russia or Venezuela.) And it is even harder to root out," wrote Boot. "At least all of us want to end covid-19. But Republicans show no desire to curb abuse of power when their side benefits. More Americans, after all, voted for Trump after he was impeached (74.2 million) than before (62.9 million). They, too, are complicit in what he has done. That so many voters care so little about such blatant wrongdoing is a grim indictment of our democracy — and a terrible augury for the future, when we are likely to confront politicians just as corrupt as Trump but far more clever."

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