Duress

 After the war, the Nazi legal theorist Carl Schmitt apparently tried to excuse his collaborationist stance toward Hitler's regime by invoking the Herman Melville story "Benito Cereno." (According to a forward to one of his works by Tracy Strong.) 

As you may recall, the twist at the heart of Melville's story is that the people who appear to be captaining the titular vessel are not actually the ones in charge. While they may seem to be acting out of their own free will, they are actually only doing so because they are in terror for their lives. 

In other words: Schmitt was saying, in a roundabout way: "I had no choice; they had a gun to my head." He was claiming, more or less, that he had only cooperated because he was under duress.

When all of this Trump stuff is over, I expect to hear a lot of the same kind of excuse-making from the Marco Rubios and the Pam Bondis of the world. And, when you see the terror in their eyes, you can almost believe it. They may appear to be captaining the ship. But everything they do is governed by fear. 

When Rubio cringingly mouths MAGA slogans online or sells out the Ukrainians to a regime he once claimed to abhor—or when Bondi refuses to say before Congress that Biden won the 2020 election—you can see the darting eyes and hear the hollow tone of voice of one who acts under compulsion. 

But—don't believe it. Because, actually, Trump had nothing real to threaten these people with. No one actually held a gun to their heads. There are plenty of things that talented people like this could have done with their lives, other than hold positions in the administration. No—they chose to do this. 

And they may legitimately be terrified of Trump's wrath and retaliation. But it is the fear of losing power—not the fear of losing their lives or their freedom—that they are feeling. (It certainly can't be fear of losing their honor or integrity, since they have already long since mortgaged those.)

So, don't be fooled. These people not only sold out to Trump, they did it for a bauble. They went cheap. They sold out—like Browning's "Lost Leader"—"Just for a handful of silver [...]/ Just for a riband to stick in [their] coat." No duress required. Their soul in the political market was priced at one "riband."