Tennessee

Last week, Republican Rep. Andy Ogles unveiled a proposal to allow Trump to run for a third term.

This week, prosecutors withdrew from Ogles' criminal investigation.

That's quite a coincidence.

In other words, it was possible that Ogles introduced an absurd proposal to empower Trump to run again in 2028 because of his affection for the president, knowing full well it will never become law. But it was also possible that he was trying to flatter Trump and get his attention amid an investigation that might lead to a criminal indictment.

Just eight days after Ogles unveiled his measure, it appears there’s some news out of Tennessee. WTVF, the CBS affiliate in Nashville, reported:

Federal prosecutors based in Nashville have withdrawn from the criminal investigation of Tennessee Congressman Andy Ogles, an unprecedented move that could signal plans by the Trump administration to drop the case against a Republican ally. With no explanation, Acting U.S. Attorney Brian McGuire filed a notice late Thursday to withdraw Assistant U.S. Attorneys Robert S. Levine and J. Christopher Suedekum from an on-going legal dispute over the FBI’s access to evidence seized from Ogles last year.

.....The investigation was ongoing when there was a dispute between Ogles’ lawyers and the U.S. attorney’s office over access to evidence on his phone. That matter ended up in court, but before it could be fully adjudicated, federal prosecutors withdrew from the case, raising questions about whether the investigation will continue as Trump and his team take control of federal law enforcement.

Of course, if the investigation does collapse, there will be no shortage of questions about how much partisan politics might've played a role.

We’ll learn soon enough what becomes of the Ogles controversy, but it’s worth emphasizing that the president has already demonstrated an unnerving affection for Republican members of Congress who have been accused of corruption. In his first term, Trump pardoned two former GOP lawmakers who’d already been convicted, and this week, he celebrated the demise of the case against a different former Republican congressman who’d been found guilty by a jury.