A constitutional crisis occurs either when the constitution does not provide a clear answer for a specific situation, or when a government official or branch of the government willfully defies adherence to the constitution. A constitutional crisis is a big deal, and can sometimes result in impeachment, civil war or collapse of the government itself. With the release of the Nunes memo, there has been a lot of talk about whether this could lead to a constitutional crisis. There is no debate that the memo was prepared and released to the public to discredit the FBI. Congress and the White House working together to wage war against the nation’s primary law enforcement agency is bizarre, but if it can prove that the motive for releasing the memo was to obstruct or undermine the Russia/Mueller investigation, things could get out of control quickly. Key players are starting to signal their positions and sometimes in unpredictable ways. In what was a shock to many, Congressman Trey Gowdy, the Republican Congressman and Chairman of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, tweeted unfettered support for Robert Mueller on the day the memo was released. It looks like battle lines are being drawn, and the mother of all constitutional crises is now within sight.
Almost everyone, including Democrats, were expecting last Tuesday’s midterm election results to heavily favor Republicans. Many predicted a “red wave” where they would pick up 50-60 seats in the House and 3-4 in the Senate. Joe Rogan said the red wave that is coming will be like the elevator doors opening in the horror film The Shining.