The Impossible Task of Defending Donald Trump

From the moment Donald Trump was indicted last week, top Republican lawmakers and media figures have found themselves in the humiliating position of trying to defend the indefensible. Many of them are lawyers; having seen the overwhelming strength of the evidence in the indictment, they could simply have accepted that Mr. Trump is in big trouble.

Instead, they have burst forth with an embarrassing slurry of misdirection, illogic and non sequiturs explaining why Mr. Trump should not be treated like everyone else in the eyes of the law. They offer legal arguments with no basis in the law or explanations that are nonsensical on their face.