Day 861: Trump admits Russia helped him win election; reveals he still has no idea how impeachment works

It took 861 days, but Donald Trump finally admitted something that the intelligence community, Robert Mueller and most people have long acknowledged: Russia helped him win the 2016 election.

“…I had nothing to do with Russia helping me to get elected” couldn’t be much clearer. Thursday’s comment is also a stark contrast to his previous claims that Russia didn’t even interfere. For instance, Trump sycophantically stood next to Vladimir Putin in July 2018 in Helsinki and said he believed Putin over U.S. intelligence agencies that Russia didn’t try and influence the election.

Later, while making remarks to reporters about impeachment, Trump seemed rattled about the prospect. He also revealed that he doesn’t understand how the impeachment process works, saying, “I can’t imagine the courts allowing it.”

Trump has made this mistake before. Impeachment inquiries are brought by the House of Representatives and only the House of Representatives. The judicial branch lacks any authority on impeachment proceedings. If a president was impeached by the House, there would be a trial in the Senate, over which the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court would preside. It’s all there in the Constitution for him to read or have an aide explain to him.

The idea that Trump has no earthly understanding of something that is routinely taught in middle school civics classes is not a surprise at this point, but it remains an embarrassing state of affairs.

861 days in, 601 to go

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