If the standard for removal of a president were “pollution of the civic realm” rather than “high crimes and misdemeanors,” President Trump would deserve impeachment.

Trump’s assertion that he would gladly accept “opposition research,” even from hostile foreign powers, shows yet again that his inclination is to replace the rule of law and ordinary standards of decency with the unethical ethic of “whatever I can get away with.” It also reminds us that neither he nor his son, Donald Trump Jr., would have avoided “collusion” with Russia if the anticipated benefit had been substantial enough.