The answer is pretty simple. They do not want to set the precedent that any Republican government official, even the President, can be held liable for their crimes. Most were prepared to let him get impeached (but not actually find him guilty), lose his office, and hope he would fall into obscurity. A slap on the wrist and then a return to status quo is perfectly acceptable to them. But to have the audacity to actually bring charges for even blatant crimes? It's just not acceptable at all. What if this accountability thing carries over to the rest of government? What if they're actually held to the law? What if they face consequences for violating the law? What if corruption in government starts to actually be investigated and punished? No no, we can't have that. There won't be any Republicans left.

It's not insane at all.

They know that without the cult they lack the numbers to win any election. They, and their positions, are so frail that they bend knee to the absolute worst humanity has to offer for a chance to feel like they aren't as neutered as they really are. They can't even just let the Trump boot-lickers fade away, those willful idiots will just not vote - they have to win the scared racist vote, they need the wheezing Nazis, they can't survive without the religious who have turned away from their god for Trump.

It's fear, weakness and desperation. It is more sad than insane. Sad and dangerous.

But instead they are pledging to pardon him, pledging to support him even if convicted, and trying to stop the trials.

Because if they don't, none of them stand a chance of being re-elected themselves. The MAGA Republicans are in a "sweet spot", so to speak; they're not in the majority even within their own party, but there's enough of them that no Republican can win without their support.

So the rest of the party basically has two choices. March in lockstep with Trump or be primaried by someone that will. Look at what happened to Liz Cheney. Deep conservative with a deep family political history. She crossed Trump and lost her primary by almost 40 points. This is what the rest of the party is afraid of.

And this is what scares me as well. The more these people start standing up to trump, the more likely they'll be replaced by another MTG or Boebert. And if you think the House of Representatives is a clown show now, imagine when half the House are just MTG clones.

You got some level headed replies so I'm going to put on my conspiracy hat. He is the Russian pick. He also gets along well with China. That is who the career Republicans are really afraid of crossing. You can talk all the shit you want as long as you vote for the right things. Including keeping trump in power.

It's theatrical for their stupid base. They have to come up with "evidence" that Biden bad, democrats bad. What better way than to find super scary "evidence" and making up shit that never happened to go along with the grift?

Republicans are driven, first and foremost, by a “fuck you, got mine” ethos. If, with whatever limited mental capacity they wield, they calculate something that tickles their “fuck you, got mine” neuroreceptors, they act.