Shaub publicly rebelled because he toed a line that he could not cross. John Feeley, the American ambassador to Panama, reached his own point of no return last winter; he later wrote that Trump had “warped and betrayed … the traditional core values of the United States.” Other diplomats in China, Latin America, and Mexico have bailed on Trump in more muted fashion. And last summer, seven in the 27-member National Infrastructure Advisory Council—tasked with helping guide cybersecurity policy—resigned en masse. In a group letter, they said that Trump was neglecting cybersecurity and undermining what they called America’s “moral infrastructure.” But like Shaub, none of these resignees dominated the news.
Shaub tells me, “I doubt I would’ve made a noisy withdrawal in times other than these. But I felt I was pulling a fire alarm because the government was on fire.” It’s clear, however, that congressional Republicans will continue to pretend they don’t smell the smoke—unless people at the top of Trump’s heap declare in public that abetting this president is a mortal threat to their souls. As Lewis warned, the slippery slope of complicity “may end in a crash, a scandal, and penal servitude. … You will be a scoundrel.”
Join the conversation as a VIP Member