MCCAIN: The impeachment of a president is seismic, but unlike other crises, this will drive us apart

America wakes up this morning to a new reality.

Where do we go as a country from here?

The disturbing truth is that no one knows.

Yes, of course, we endured memorable – even traumatic – moments before that.

Richard Nixon’s resignation showed the country that their president was, in fact, a fraud. The September 11 attacks revealed that our mighty nation is incredibly vulnerable. The January 6 riots exposed the gaping chasms that had torn open between us all.

But in these cases, a vast majority of Americans rallied and recognized a common cause.

Republicans allied with Democrats to force Nixon out of office. Patriotism increased after 9/11. No serious person approved of the violent attack on the US Capitol.

This feels different. It’s hard to underestimate the significance of what just happened.

I wrote something similar after the August 2022 FBI raid on President Donald Trump’s home in Mar-a-Lago — and looking back now — perhaps it was inevitable that we ended up here.

It was one of the first precedents to be overturned.

Now a leading presidential candidate has been indicted by the Justice Department for a sitting president seeking a second term.

It goes without saying that Biden’s DOJ has — intentionally or unintentionally — undermined the public’s right to elect its own leader. There’s no denying that they’ve put their thumbs on the scale.

The story of this election is no longer determined by the candidates. It will not be driven by policy positions and debates about the country’s future course.

No, this election will be a referendum on Trump’s guilt or innocence.

Never before in my life did the ground beneath our feet seem so shaky. I feel it in the pit of my stomach.

If this 37-count federal indictment against Trump does not unite Americans in universal condemnation of him, then I fear there is no going back.

Americans’ fundamental trust in their country will be eroded.

Just weeks after Special Counsel John Durham laid out how the FBI launched a full-blown investigation into Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign on the weakest evidence imaginable — it’s hard not to suspect that America’s most formidable forces are on the verge of Trump have been targeting.

No doubt the former president has behaved horribly.

We know that he stored sensitive documents in his house – he shouldn’t have. He lamely tried to explain away the problem by claiming that he can declassify documents with a wave of his hand – he can’t. His lawyer misled the federal authorities, who came to get the information – they shouldn’t have lied.

But this is now how they treated Hillary Clinton.

As Secretary of State, Clinton created a private server to protect her government communications from the prying eyes of Republican investigators and pesky public requests for transparency.

She and her staff had evidence of their actions destroyed and even destroyed their digital devices to cover their tracks.

But she was not charged with obstructing justice or mishandling classified information.

On the contrary, Clinton’s lawyers were granted immunity and she was not questioned by authorities until they concluded that the charges were unjustified.

Clearly, President Joe Biden is responsible for distributing top secret documents from Washington DC to Delaware, and frankly, who knows where else, over the course of decades.

Vice President Mike Pence had classified information. His house was searched and he was acquitted.

Why is Trump treated so differently? Were his actions bad enough to derail a presidential election?

If Republicans and Democrats ultimately fail to agree that this unprecedented indictment was not only justified, but necessary, then the American justice system will be considered completely and utterly broken.

In the short term, Trump’s popularity among Republicans is sure to increase, as it did after he was indicted by a politically partisan Manhattan District Attorney on absurd charges related to his payout to Stormy Daniels.

Trump’s main GOP rival, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, was flustered by news of the indictment and found himself in the uncomfortable position of defending his primary opponent.

“The arming of federal law enforcement poses a mortal threat to a free society. For years we have witnessed an uneven application of the law depending on political affiliation. Why so zealous about chasing Trump and yet so passive about Hillary or Hunter?’ DeSantis tweeted.

He’s not wrong, but this can’t be the position DeSantis wants to be in.

In March next year, just three weeks after Super Tuesday, when a third of all congressional delegates are up for grabs, Trump’s Stormy Daniels trial will begin.

Will that boost the Trump campaign again?

It very well could.

How this plays out politically in the long run is anybody’s guess.

If Trump wins the Republican nomination, will America elect a man under federal indictment?

One thing is certain: the perception that there are two standards of justice in America has firmly established itself.

It is a chilling prospect for anyone in public life, who now faces prosecution by corrupt prosecutors.

It is a further threat to the institutions that keep tribal passions at bay. It breaks down with the collective belief that binds us together.

At seemingly every step, America stumbles away from the land I recognize.

This is the view from across the Rubicon.

It’s terrifying.