Ukraine scandal shows Trump has 'compromised' the entire executive branch: conservative columnist

A columnist for the conservative Bulwark went all-in against Donald Trump's administration saying corruption is not limited to the president but appears to have spread to his inner circle, including Vice President Mike Pence, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and even his own family members.

According to attorney Philip Rotner, under a sub-headline bluntly stating: "The entire executive branch of the government has been corrupted by our corrupt president," lawmakers need to go beyond the impeachment of the president and investigate everyone around him.

"The story of the Ukraine whistleblower isn’t just about a personal quid pro quo between U.S. president and a foreign leader. That’s certainly part of it, and that alone will likely be enough to lead to Donald Trump’s impeachment," he began. "But the larger, scarier story here is about Trump’s intimidation, corruption and compromise of the entire executive branch of the U.S. government."

Addressing the Ukraine complaint as well as reporting from the Washington Post that "12 to 13 people, including at least three people from the Situation Room, at least two or three members of the national security adviser’s leadership team, a State Department surrogate for Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and a senior representative from the Russia and Ukraine directorate were listening in," Rotner stated lawmakers need to follow that lead.

"Take a step back from all the details and look at the big picture: Trump has corrupted practically the entire executive branch of our government. And this corruption is a far greater danger to our democracy than his clumsy quid pro quo with Ukraine," he explained, before ticking off a list of possible suspects, including former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, Attorney General Bill Barr, Vice President Mike Pence, Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump among others.

"It now seems to be only a matter of time until other government officials are implicated with at least having knowledge of Trump’s misconduct. Is it possible that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo didn’t know? What about former National Security Advisor John Bolton? Could Trump’s Chief of Staff, Mick Mulvaney, have been in the dark? What about Jared and Ivanka?" he suggested, before stating it is likely one or more of these individuals Trump's family excluded) might turn against the president to save themselves.

According to the attorney, his bet is on former national security adviser John Bolton.

"Bolton’s thinly-veiled threat after being dismissed by Trump sounds all the more ominous in light of the Ukraine scandal: 'I will have my say in due course. . . . My sole concern is U.S. national security.'"

"Whenever a ship sinks, there’s always one rat who’s clever enough to get off first. And after him, the deluge," Rotner concluded.

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