The list of things for which Donald Trump has no respect is very long, and includes women, minorities, the US Constitution, US intelligence agencies, science, the office of the presidency, and on and on.

But perhaps most importantly, Trump has no respect for the rule of law, and believes he should be above it. He is, after all, “the chosen one,” according to… himself.

Today he’s demonstrating that contempt for the law once again, by telling his cronies to seize private land and disregard laws and environmental regulations to get his crackpot fantasy wall built as fast as possible (so he can boast about it in his 2020 presidential campaign), and promising to pardon anyone who gets in trouble for it.

President Trump is so eager to complete hundreds of miles of border fence ahead of the 2020 presidential election that he has directed aides to fast-track billions of dollars’ worth of construction contracts, aggressively seize private land and disregard environmental rules, according to current and former officials involved with the project.

He also has told worried subordinates that he will pardon them of any potential wrongdoing should they have to break laws to get the barriers built quickly, those officials said.

Trump didn’t just dangle a pardon to officials to get his wall built faster.He also pressured an agency to give a wall contract to a donor to one of his top GOP allies in Congress.Behind the populist nationalism, there’s always corruption.New piece:https://t.co/rb8tI7QUB7

— Greg Sargent (@ThePlumLineGS) August 28, 2019