Heading into the Independence Day holiday weekend, the nation is facing an unprecedented political and judicial crisis that could span years and tear at the very fabric of our country.

What would the Founding Fathers think if they read The United States of America v. Donald J. Trump — the 37-count felony indictment of the twice-impeached former one-term president? One imagines them shaking their powdered-wig heads in disbelief upon learning that the federal government they painfully birthed 247 years ago possessed overwhelming evidence charging the defendant — a former commander in chief — with putting “at risk the national security of the United States.”

Nonetheless, the defendant is on track to win the presidential nomination of a major political party, and his trial is on a collision course with the forthcoming presidential election.

Indeed, our Founders would be appalled and shocked that a twice-indicted former president was again running for president, as are the 59 percent of Americans who believe that “Trump ought to end his campaign now that he’s facing federal charges.”

The level of discontent among Trump’s strongest supporters will reach the next level if he is federally indicted again, this time for conspiring to obstruct congressional proceedings that resulted in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol by his supporters, or indicted in Georgia for attempted 2020 election interference.

Hence, the national political forecast for the last half of 2023 and 2024 is dark and dismal, with increasing chances of tumult. However, this bleak assessment stems directly from the actions and inactions of two men who could have stopped Trump — Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Mark Meadows, Trump’s former White House chief of staff.

Suppose both men had acted differently at two pivotal points. In early 2021, McConnell — in the patriotic spirit of bipartisanship after a national crisis — could have led his caucus to achieve the two-thirds Senate vote needed to convict Trump at his impeachment trial. Then, with that same two-thirds Senate support, McConnell and Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) could have drawn up legislation to prohibit Trump from holding future public office.

For his part, Meadows could have leveraged his power as chief of staff to stop Trump from taking top-secret documents to Florida, sparing both Trump and the Justice Department from the recent spectacle of Trump’s indictment.

Unfortunately, neither McConnell nor Meadows spoke truth to power. It would be more accurate to say that they acted as Trump’s enablers out of personal political expediency instead of in the national interest. Thus, our country continues to pay a heavy price for their failings, especially the Justice Department — trying to uphold the rule of law and show that no man, even a former president, is above the law.

Moreover, Americans would not be hearing the 2024 presidential primary leader, who is also the leader of the Republican Party, make egregious statements, such as Trump made on Saturday at the Faith and Freedom Coalition’s conference.

Railing to the crowd of Christian activists about any person or entity who opposes his actions — Republicans, Democrats, federal or state governments, the media, etc. — Trump pledged: “Together, we’re warriors in a righteous crusade to stop the arsonists, the atheists, globalists, and the Marxists — and that’s what they are — and we will restore our republic as one nation under God with liberty and justice for all.” 

Continuing, Trump warned that he is “being indicted for you,” calling each new indictment a “badge of honor.”

After hearing such remarks and facing the prospect of Trump topping the GOP ticket, one wonders if McConnell regrets voting to acquit Trump. Recall that, minutes after his Feb. 13, 2021 acquittal, McConnell justified his Senate vote and leadership actions with a very odd speech. One might have thought he favored conviction when he said, “A mob was assaulting the Capitol in [Trump’s] name. These criminals were carrying his banners, hanging his flags, and screaming their loyalty to him. It was obvious that only President Trump could end this.”

McConnell could have ended Trump’s political career on Feb. 13, 2021. But did he fear backlash from Trump loyalists, whom McConnell thought he needed for Republicans to win back the Senate in the 2022 midterm elections?

Ironically, the record shows that most Trump-supported Senate candidates actually blocked McConnell from becoming Senate majority leader again. Most likely, McConnell did not want to be held responsible for Trump’s conviction, but did he do his duty to his country that day?

At the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue was Trump’s fourth and last chief of staff, Mark Meadows. An important unanswered question about Meadows is whether he knew that Trump retained classified documents, and whether he could have stopped his boss from taking them to Florida.

This week, I spoke with John Kelly, who had served as Trump’s second chief of staff, from July 2017 to January 2019. I asked him if he thought Meadows might have prevented Trump’s actions that led to the recent 37-count federal indictment. The retired four-star Marine general said that Meadows “could have involved the rest of the Cabinet, bringing in the vice president, attorney general and CIA to talk to the president” about how removing such documents was “very destructive.”

Kelly added that “if Meadows turned a blind eye” and “if he knew it was happening, it is hard to believe [enabling] was not in play.”

When or if our nation emerges intact from current and future Trump indictments or a second Trump administration, history will judge whether Meadows and McConnell were Trump’s enablers.

Myra Adams served on the creative team of two Republican presidential campaigns.