Democratic Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal criticized Senate Republicans for being “tacit enablers” who allow President Donald Trump to send the message that “if you disagree with the president, your job, your family, maybe even your life are in jeopardy.”
Appearing on Wednesday night’s edition of “Cuomo Prime time” to react to Trump’s criticism and the Justice Department’s decision to weigh in on prosecutors’ seven to nine-year sentencing recommendation for former Trump advisor Roger Stone, Blumenthal insisted that Stone’s nonviolent crimes undercut “the very foundation of the rule of law.”
“Today, it’s Roger Stone, but if the president can use the justice system as a political tool to favor friends or go after enemies, it could be any one of us,” said the Connecticut senator. “And I must say there’s no sugarcoating this situation. Ultimately, it’s going to depend on the election because my Republican colleagues have shown they are going to enable this kind of corruption of our justice system. They have said, apparently, acknowledging it, that the president hasn’t learned his lesson and he’s sending a message, if you disagree with the president, your job, your family, maybe even your life are in jeopardy.”
Blumenthal contended that Trump’s impeachment acquittal “unleashed him,” agreeing with CNN host Chris Cuomo that the president “has done things as bold as he’s ever done.” (RELATED: Trey Gowdy Defends William Barr On Stone Sentencing Guidelines: ‘There Are Child Pornographers Who Do Not Get Nine Years’)
“Ugly, alarming, to feel truly that he is accountable to no one, he can do whatever he wants, as he said under article two, and he will be held accountable not by any Senate majority because he controls the majority,” said Blumenthal. “And my Senate colleagues, and this point is important too, are more than just tacit bystanders. They are explicit enablers. They are aiders and abetters here. And this unleashing after that verdict was done by them. It’s no coincidence.”