It's been clear for a while that the Republican Party has become completely amoral. Their partisanship has become more important to them than any quaint notions of right or wrong. To them, right versus left is all that matters.

Republicans now refuse to condemn pretty much anything that any other Republican does -- no matter how amoral -- starting at the top with President Donald Trump. The GOP has claimed for decades that they are the "law and order" party, but that all goes out the window when Trump pardons hundreds of people who assaulted police officers. Supporting cops is less important than supporting a fellow Republican. Morals are conveniently set aside whenever necessary.

I was reminded of this right after watching Trump's inauguration, when it was revealed that he had failed to put his hand on the two Bibles his wife held up beside him. Imagine the outcry from the right if Barack Obama had done such a thing when he was getting sworn in! But it was barely mentioned afterwards, since partisanship is far more important than moral outrage (which Republicans would indeed have shown if Obama had been the one to do it).

Some new shocking evidence of Republican amorality was just uncovered by the Washington Post today, in a story titled: "Johnson Aide Discouraged Hutchison Subpoena Over Concerns About Lawmakers' 'Sexual Texts'."

House Republicans have been trying to use Cassidy Hutchinson as some sort of leverage to get to Liz Cheney -- all of which is now a moot point (since Cheney was pardoned by Joe Biden on his way out the door). They set up an investigatory committee to come up with some sort of scandal they could use against the House January 6th Committee that Cheney served on, but so far this has been unsuccessful. The head of this new committee, Representative Barry Loudermilk, apparently had the idea of subpoenaing Hutchinson to force her to produce electronic communications and/or to testify in front of his committee. But it seems there was a problem with this plan, as the Post explains:

An aide to Mike Johnson advised the House speaker's Republican colleagues against subpoenaing former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson as part of their investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, attack in an effort to prevent the release of sexually explicit texts that lawmakers sent her, according to written correspondence reviewed by The Washington Post and a person familiar with the effort.

The aide intervened last June, citing concerns that a subpoena could expose the texts, according to the correspondence and the person, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to talk candidly about private conversations. Johnson revived the investigation this week as part of an effort by President Donald Trump and his allies to seek retribution against perceived political enemies, including those who investigated his role in the Capitol attack.

. . .

[A] Johnson aide told [Representative Barry] Loudermilk's staff that multiple colleagues had raised concerns with the speaker's office about the potential for public disclosure of "sexual texts from members who were trying to engage in sexual favors" with Hutchinson, according to correspondence produced at the time that detailed the conversation. Separately, a member of Johnson's staff told Loudermilk aides that Hutchinson could "potentially reveal embarrassing information," according to an email reviewed by The Post.

. . .

The Washington Post reviewed documentation reflecting the speaker's office's concern ahead of the June meeting between him and Loudermilk that corroborated the account of the person familiar with the effort to prevent the texts' release, but has not seen the purported sexually explicit messages. Nor has The Post identified who sent them or determined whether Hutchinson responded.

Got all of that? "Multiple... members... were trying to engage in sexual favors" with a woman who had been a witness in a congressional investigation. They sent "sexually explicit texts" to her. So it wasn't just Matt Gaetz, in other words, or some other equally-amoral House Republican, it was more than one of them.

Let that sink in for a moment.

This, from the party who championed the "moral majority," and who decried "moral relativism" (when it was being used in Bill Clinton's defense), and who has generally tried to position themselves as paragons of morality for the past half-century or so.

You'll note too that neither the speaker, his aide, or apparently anyone else reacted to this news by demanding a full investigation or a referral to the Ethics Committee or any other action which could have uncovered the scandalous and amoral behavior. Instead, the sole concern was covering it all up.

As the Post noted, the texts have so far not been made public. This leaves open the question of what exactly was offered -- not the "sexual favors," but any possible quid pro quo offered in exchange for them. Which would, if true, be a pretty blatant attempt at witness-tampering.

House Speaker Mike Johnson presents himself as a very pious, God-fearing man. That's his public persona. But this is impossible to reconcile with what the Post just reported. Members of Congress trying to exchange sexual favors with a committee witness (in exchange for what?) is clearly wrong. It may even be illegal. But Johnson helped bury the issue by warning Loudermilk of the problem before any subpoena was issued which might have publicly exposed this wrongdoing. He is thus complicit in the effort -- a co-conspirator after the fact.

Sadly, this story will likely not make much of a splash in the political media. There are so many other amoral things going on during Trump's first week that it will likely just end up as a footnote to it all. Right and wrong are no longer operative concepts to the Republican Party. As long as it is a fellow Republican, anything can be excused. Which is moral relativism taken to its extreme, really. And which is why it's pretty obvious that the Republican Party has become completely amoral.

-- Chris Weigant

Follow Chris on Twitter: @ChrisWeigant