
Independent presidential candidate Evan McMullin and his running mate Mindy Finn watch results come in during a election night watch party, Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2016, in Salt Lake City. Donald Trump’s brashness and antics have created widespread backlash among Utah’s mostly Mormon electorate, pushing a normally solid Republican state into the tossup category. Trump may still win Utah, where Republicans outnumber Democrats 4-to-1 among 1.4 million active voters, but polls show independent candidate McMullin is threatening to siphon conservative support. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
A little earlier today, alleged former presidential candidate Evam McMullin sent out this tweet:
The inclusion of the dossier in FISA applications may represent an unprecedented collision of opposition research and national security, but remember: the cause of that was a presidential candidate’s likely collaboration with the very foreign adversary attacking our democracy.
— Evan McMullin (@EvanMcMullin) February 2, 2018
Sure, he says, a law enforcement agency teamed up with a Democrat candidate’s opposition research team to unleash surveillance on an opposing candidate. But so what? The candidate was Trump so its justified.
McMullin may be a bit more hawkish on this than most Never-Trumpers because he, at least, seems to recognize the impropriety of what happened. Most Never Trumpers really don’t care that a bullsh** document was used to permit our national security apparatus to spy on American citizens. Because Trump. They really don’t care that evidence was misrepresented to a court. Because Trump.They are fine with the FISA Court being used to place surveillance on members of a political campaign and transition team. Because Trump.
There was a time, about a year ago, when conservatives didn’t like the idea of warrantless surveillance, that secret courts bothered them, that lying to judges was frowned upon. A time when we were actually skeptical of big, secretive government. Those days are past. Because Trump.
This, I suppose, is a break point between me and people who call themselves conservatives but who are mostly Never Trump. If you can’t even agree that political espionage under false pretense is a bad thing, we aren’t in the same party or political movement. We don’t even share a common understanding of what this nation is about.
There it is.
Those of you who had Evan McMullin in the pool as first to say the abuse was justified "because Trump," go ahead and DM me for your gift certificates. https://t.co/juVjeeGJUr
— Omri Ceren (@omriceren) February 2, 2018
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