Perhaps it seems silly to say, “Imagine what Republicans would be saying if this was Hillary Clinton,” but the comparison highlights how malleable their principles are. They were (or at least pretended to be) horrified at the thought that as Secretary of State, Clinton might have a meeting with a foreign dignitary whose government made a donation to the Clinton Foundation to support the distribution of AIDS medications in Africa. But foreign interests basically depositing money into Donald Trump’s bank account? What’s the big deal?
 

Just before the election, Jason Chaffetz, who heads the House government oversight committee, was forthright about the fact that if Clinton won he’d be issuing subpoenas every time she brushed her teeth. But now he has taken a very different attitude toward his committee’s watchdog role. “It’s sort of ridiculous to go after [Trump] when his financial disclosure is already online,” Chaffetz now says.
 

We’re going to see this again and again: not just a disinterest in Trump’s copious conflicts of interest, but a willingness to parrot whatever ludicrous defense Trump makes of them. If some dictator somewhere wants to slap Trump’s name on a hotel and pay the Trump Organization $20 million in exchange, isn’t that just proof of what a great businessman Trump is? And why would anyone think that might affect U.S. foreign policy, when Trump’s kids are running the business? It’s not like they’re advising him on government policy and personnel. Oh, wait, that’s exactly what they’re doing.