Republicans are acting like Trump's guilty

[Amica Nostra 4,803]

 

Paul Waldman

 

REUTERS/Carlos Barria

December 19, 2017

 

 

 

 

If I asked, could you explain what exactly President Trump did wrong in regard to Russia's effort to help him win the 2016 election? Almost certainly not, which illustrates the fact that while the special counsel's investigation is working its way toward the Oval Office, it hasn't gotten there yet.

But here's what's odd: While the president's allies in Congress and the media don't know what he did wrong either (if anything), they sure are acting like he's guilty of something.

 

While we've already learned about a lot of contacts between certain colorful Russians and high-ranking members of the Trump campaign — Jared Kushner, Paul Manafort, Michael Flynn, Donald Trump Jr. — the degree of the president's involvement remains a mystery. Other than reports that Trump dictated the laughably dishonest statement about the meeting a number of those advisers had with a group of Russians offering dirt on Hillary Clinton, we don't know much about what he did, let alone what he ordered.

While some Republicans are trying to remain calm, to watch conservative media figures or hard-right Republican members of Congress, you'd think they all knew that if they don't man the barricades their leader could wind up behind bars or be impeached. There's an all-out war against Robert Mueller's investigation underway; Fox News has now begun referring to it as a "coup," amidst the network's unceasing coverage of the supposed "corruption" it represents. If Trump's allies thought the facts would prove the president's innocence and that of everyone else involved, they wouldn't be in such a panic. But as it is, it sounds as if they're sure this is an existential threat to the Trump presidency.

That's an assumption about Trump's guilt, because the really monumental scandals (Watergate, Iran-Contra, Lewinsky) are the ones that involve wrongdoing on the part of the president himself, not just his underlings. I'd guess that they're probably right in assuming Trump is guilty of something, but we don't know for sure, not yet anyway.

But there's one Republican who's convinced Trump will be fully exonerated: Donald Trump.

CNN reports that "Trump is boasting to friends and advisers that he expects Mueller to clear him of wrongdoing in the coming weeks." That opinion is apparently based on the assurances of his legal team, who haven't exactly shown themselves to be a bunch of geniuses so far. It's clearly false, since each week brings news of someone Mueller has flipped or a new avenue the investigation is pursuing; most knowledgeable observers think there's a long way to go. On the other hand, promising Trump that he's in the clear and it all will be wrapped up soon could be a clever way of keeping him from sabotaging himself with attacks on Mueller.

The latest twist, however, is one that could bring the scandal to an entirely new level. Over the weekend we learned that Mueller's team has obtained thousands of emails written by members of Trump's presidential transition team, which included pretty much every major player involved in this affair. Trump's lawyers were apparently caught completely by surprise, and were left complaining that Mueller shouldn't have been allowed to get the emails from the General Services Administration, which runs government operations, making absurd claims that the emails are privileged and private.  http://theweek.com/articles/743988/republicans-are-acting-like-trumps-guilty

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Charles Brown still kicking at the football 

Edited December 20, 2017 by Nature Boy Flair