Do you want to catch an obstruction charge (because this is how you catch an obstruction charge)?
On Wednesday morning, President Trump took his Twitter rants to a very specific place, and it was blatant in its attempts to sway an ongoing investigation.
In fact, if obstruction is one of the potential targets of investigation being covered by special counsel Robert Mueller’s team (It is), and if reports are correct that he’s also skimming through Trump’s tweets as a means of mapping the president’s attitudes and behavior during the investigation (He is), then today’s frothing Twitter-fest can only make Mueller’s job easier.
I’ve been saying for awhile that Twitter will be Trump’s undoing. I can only imagine the White House is in an uproar now, as aides huddle in corners, clasping their cell phones, and downing antacids by the handful.
This is that bad.
Does it have anything to do with the trial of former Trump campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, that began on Tuesday?
Maybe there’s another shoe to fall from Camp Cohen, as Trump’s former “fixer” readies himself to tell all he knows about his former boss?
Whatever the case, today’s Twitter rager took direct aim at both Mueller and oft-abused Attorney General Jeff Sessions.
In the most direct attack on the Russia probe, to date, President Trump tweeted:
“Attorney General Jeff Sessions should stop this Rigged Witch Hunt right now, before it continues to stain our country any further,” Trump tweeted.
Wow.
..This is a terrible situation and Attorney General Jeff Sessions should stop this Rigged Witch Hunt right now, before it continues to stain our country any further. Bob Mueller is totally conflicted, and his 17 Angry Democrats that are doing his dirty work are a disgrace to USA!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 1, 2018
President Trump actually added the obstruction element to the ongoing Russia probe after meeting with former FBI Director James Comey and in 2017 and asking him to give the former national security adviser Michael Flynn “a break.”
There is a lot of speculation about what was actually said in that private meeting and how it could be taken, but Comey has testified that he was being asked to end the investigation. After he was fired in May 2017, and after Trump appeared with NBC News’ Lester Holt and said he fired him because of the “Russia thing,” Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein had no choice but to appoint special counsel.
Sessions [rightly] recused himself because of his own suspicious omission of information, regarding meetings he had during the campaign with Russian officials. Trump has never let him live it down. He expected Sessions to run interference and protect him. He blames him for everything that has happened since.
That’s mainly because Trump is a petulant, unreasonable man-baby. Do not seek self-control or a rational discussion on the issues with him. He’s incapable, and any reports to the contrary coming out of this administration are lies.
Along with his direct call to Sessions to end a lawful investigation, the president also rambled off some talking points he gathered from watching attorney Alan Dershowitz on Fox News.
“FBI Agent Peter Strzok (on the Mueller team) should have recused himself on day one. He was out to STOP THE ELECTION OF DONALD TRUMP. He needed an insurance policy. Those are illegal, improper goals, trying to influence the Election. He should never, ever been allowed to……..
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 1, 2018
…..remain in the FBI while he himself was being investigated. This is a real issue. It won’t go into a Mueller Report because Mueller is going to protect these guys. Mueller has an interest in creating the illusion of objectivity around his investigation.” ALAN DERSHOWITZ….
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 1, 2018
He also sought to defend Manafort, as well as creates some separation.
Paul Manafort worked for Ronald Reagan, Bob Dole and many other highly prominent and respected political leaders. He worked for me for a very short time. Why didn’t government tell me that he was under investigation. These old charges have nothing to do with Collusion – a Hoax!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 1, 2018
Yeah, the thing is, he was warned about Manafort, who, oddly enough, took the position with Trump’s campaign unpaid. We can only speculate why, at this point.
We can expect his rantings and ravings to become more desperate and far-flung. What he’s doing now is damaging his own case. Mueller is not sitting in his office, reading these tweets and wringing his hands.
He is a professional, and very much unlike Donald Trump, he knows what he is doing.
Russian Collusion with the Trump Campaign, one of the most successful in history, is a TOTAL HOAX. The Democrats paid for the phony and discredited Dossier which was, along with Comey, McCabe, Strzok and his lover, the lovely Lisa Page, used to begin the Witch Hunt. Disgraceful!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 1, 2018
Total hoax?
Mueller, a Republican, has indicted or secured guilty pleas from 32 individuals, including four former Trump aides, in the probe into ties between the Trump campaign and Russia’s efforts to influence the 2016 presidential election.
That’s not a hoax. That’s a well-run investigation.
And that’s the reason Trump may very well be on the verge of making a life-altering mistake.
Stay tuned…