Disgraced late Trump organization reprobate lawyer, swindler, and Donald Trump mentor Roy Cohn honed his mentee in the trenchant “dark arts” in the former’s early New York City real estate magnate years: the classic use of of lying, cheating and DARVO (deny, attack and reverse victim and offender).

The student has since — like no Republican before him — engaged in chronic aggressive, aberrant and semi-coherent provocations with impunity by a cowed party and a ratings-driven press.

We saw him blow up the bipartisan Senate border deal last week as he haughtily objected to any perceived win by his presidential campaign rival, regardless of how it would have benefited the country. Only a few Republican senators stood up to him — Mitt Romney, Susan Collins and James Lankford among them — but it didn’t pass, despite the party’s repeated hypocritic demands that the Biden administration “secure” the southern border and the existential threat to the nation they incessantly harp about.

Was it a perfect deal? No. Did it include quid pro quo desperately needed military funding for our ally fighting boots-on-the-ground a proxy war against Russian imperialism? Yes, but the MAGA Senate Republican caucus slavishly acquiesced to the former president’s craven political calculus and personal wishes in fear, an exemplary “profile in cowardice.”

Old crooked Roy would be proud of his Machiavellian creation “Teflon Don,” but like Cohn’s hubris, the law Trump flouts will eventually wear the Teflon off his non-stick pan for sheer overuse.

Jon St. Laurent, North Windham and Lovell