I kind of like Marcy Wheeler’s take on the news that Special Counsel Robert Mueller has subpoenaed documents from the Trump Organization and the speculation that this may cross Trump’s red line and prompt his firing.
BREAKING: Robert Mueller would be f*cking stupid if he weren’t subpoenaing this information.
First, of all, we know that in the late part of last year, Mueller was locking in testimony from everyone involved in the June 9 Trump Tower meeting, and he subsequently recalled at least one of the participants back for seconds. We know there’s good reason to believe the public story the participants are telling about the meeting doesn’t make sense, and that they may be hiding a second part of the meeting. We know Mueller is examining Trump’s relationship with the Agalarovs, in particular. We know from what Sam Nunberg has told us he was asked about the Miss Universe contest. From his subpoena, we know that Mueller is dating his investigative scope from the time, in 2015, when Trump was considering yet another Moscow Trump Tower deal. Several key witnesses, notably Don Jr and Rhona Graff were interviewed as Trump Organization employees, represented by Abe Fortefas.
All of this pertains to Trump’s business! And it is common practice among prosecutors, especially prosecutors dealing with shifty types, to first ask for voluntary production, and then subpoena it. It would be stupid of Mueller to not do the same here.
Robert Mueller is not stupid. Therefore it is not BREAKING news that he is subpoenaing this information…
On the other hand, just having it verified that Mueller “has subpoenaed the Trump Organization to turn over documents, including some related to Russia,” is definitely newsworthy. And while Marcy correctly notes that Trump’s supposed red line wasn’t really all that red in the first place, and that he acknowledged that some of his business dealings could be relevant to the investigation, it’s still true that a guilty person is most likely to lash out when they feel the prosecutors closing in.
We don’t know the scope of Mueller’s subpoenas, but if he’s asking for anything related to Russia in some defined time frame, it could open up a lot of avenues for new inquiries. Trump must be at least tempted to do whatever he can to shut this down.
So, while it shouldn’t be surprising that Mueller is poking around the Trump Organization, it could still instigate some kind of response from the president. And he’s feeling unshackled and emboldened at the moment, and it doesn’t look like he has many people around him anymore who are willing to give him hard advice or threaten to resign if he wouldn’t listen to reason.
The “red line” thing has always struck me as NYT’s idea.
Assuming for the sake of argument, that there is anyone willing to go to the mat for Mueller (an idea I find unlikely at this point), what I’ve seen of Trump implies that person is already on the outs. ie, Trump is probably already looking for a reason to part this person from his presence (Sessions, Tillerson, Preibus, Bannon, etc).
Wouldn’t it make it MORE likely that Trump would activate his personal Maginot line to get that person to leave?
Strategery** folks, strategery.
**: its a real word.
If it’s a real word (barely) it’s only because of Bush.
It’s just a mangled version of “strategy”– as if to say, this guy’s grasp of strategy is suggested by his inability to even pronounce the word correctly. It’s an interesting example of iconicity.
Trump’s running out of firing someone distractions. News of McMasters was bizarre last night, the back and forth sheer stupidity. But since the firings aren’t getting Russia off the front page he’s more likely to look for another subject to distract.
And will Rep take Nunes dive to a higher cliff and get flat out aggressive to protect Trump or at least distract?
The race now seems to be just how much information can Mueller get out on the public table before Sessions and Rosenstein face an exit tweet.
“Never admit anything” was Roy Cohn’s basic tactic. It has been Trump’s basic tactic throughout his own career, as well.
There are two ways to admit guilt in this case. Firing Mueller…or essentially crippling the investigation by firing others…would be one of them, and copping a plea Nixon-style would be another.
He’s caught over a barrel here. No matter which way he rolls…if of course the Mueller people really have the goods on him and are not willing to “compromise” for whatever political/monetary/careerist or sheer survival reasons…his fat, crooked ass is still up for grabs. He won’t roll towards copping a plea until the whole game is pretty much up, and he can’t fire or otherwise stop the Mueller investigation without a tacit admission of guilt. About his only third option…the one that I most expect…would be to start a serious shooting war somewhere and then run the old “Don’t change
assholes…errr, ahhh, of course I meant horses…in midstream” argument first used in the U.S. by Abe Lincoln in 1864. Only the possible honesty of his military advisors…one of whom (McMaster) is now gone, and another of whom (Kelly)appears to be under the gun…could stop him from doing this.Gonna get interesting.
Soon.
Watch.
AG
Seriously, you are putting Abe Lincoln and the Civil War in the same category as George W. Bush (we’re in the middle of an elected war in Iraq) or a hypothetical madman Trump War in, where exactly, DPRK? The war would be over in a week and tens of millions of people would be dead.
It was theUS Civil war dude. Have some historical respect and basic understanding. Lincoln was not a cynic.
He isn’t putting Trump or Bush in the same category as Lincoln, but simply alluding to a rationale used by Lincoln that Trump could use, or rather ab-use. It’s clear from the comment that Trump’s abuse of the metaphor would by cynical, but that doesn’t reflect on Lincoln. It reflects on Trump’s well-known delusions of grandeur, e.g. comparing himself to Churchill or insisting there were 1.5 million people at his inauguration when the true number had to be (at the most) considerable less than half of that.
Precisely.
Thank you.
AG
I didn’t say that he was. They are going to use his lick, like Kenny G used Charlie Parker’s.
Devolution at work.
AG
One of Kenny G’s many sins against jazz.
Bet on it.
And he’s not alone.
Not by a long shot.
AG
A lawless regime cannot tolerate an independent investigation into itself.
So it won’t.
Spouse and I have a saying, “When you corner a rat it bites.” The more Mueller closes in on Trump, the more dangerous Trump will become. Scares the bejesus out of me.
Anecdotal, but that depends on what kind of “tough guy” Trump is.
Locally, a dick-swinging, uber-armed, house like a fortress, “They’ll NEVER take me alive!” bully of a resident who had spend years knowingly flaunting federal law just fell into a puddle of tears when federal agents finally kicked in his door.
The only gun he ever fired was the one he promptly shot himself with after release on bail.
Trump is more likely in this “tough guy” category if he’s ever cornered. Who he surrounds himself with indicates as much.