Journalist: GOP’s 'cowardly' approach to Trump means 'many Republicans will be wiped out'

Judge Arthur Engoron's recent nine-figure judgment against former President Donald Trump presents a critical fork in the road for the Republican Party, according to a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist.

In his latest article for his nonprofit news site DCReport.org, journalist David Cay Johnston argued that Trump's legal woes will only worsen from here. Johnston told MSNBC host Ali Velshi on Saturday that the GOP has a limited window of time to distance itself from the former president before he drags the entire party down with him.

"Will the Republican leadership now begin to talk truth to Trump the way three Republican leaders in Congress did when they went to tell Richard Nixon 'it's over,' and he resigned the next day from the presidency?" Johnston said. "If Donald Trump continues to hold this sway and these people continue to cower in front of him — and that's what's going on here, this is cowardly behavior — then the Republican Party is going to suffer terribly at the polls next year."

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"Many Republicans will be wiped out. And you see that in the Republican committee chairs who have announced they're not running again," Johnston added, referring to the retirement announcement of Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Washington), who chairs the powerful House Energy and Commerce Committee. "I think this is a real test — is there any integrity left in the Republican Party, or is it a completely corrupt organization that bows down to Donald Trump?"

In addition to Rep. Rogers' retirement, numerous other House Republicans have announced they will also not seek another term in office. Just this year, more than a dozen GOP lawmakers — including many from safe Republican districts — have stated their intentions to retire from public office. Seven of those retirements are from the Energy and Commerce Committee, which is considered one of the most influential in Congress.

Johnston went on to suggest that while Trump's civil judgments have not yet resulted in the GOP abandoning Trump, attitudes may change if he is convicted of a felony in any one of his four upcoming criminal trials. He also theorized that former UN ambassador Nikki Haley will likely remain in the race for the Republican nomination, on the assumption that the GOP may end up nominating her anyway if the former president is convicted and incarcerated.

Trump's first criminal trial will begin in Manhattan District Court on March 25th, where he is facing 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.

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Watch Johnston's segment below, or by clicking this link.