Witch Feels Mueller's Hot Breath On His Neck

An angry Twit- In- Chief broke out in a cold sweat early this morning:

WITCH HUNT!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 27, 2018

Consciousness of guilt overwhelming him? Heard Rick Gates likely gave Robert Mueller the goods to get the charges dropped?  More indictments coming?  Hope Hicks testifying to the House Intelligence Committee today? His "I'd be your hero" act getting mocked? Maybe just triggered by fellow "Fox and Friends" nitwits? Your guess is as good as ours.  But, good to know he's all about doing his job!

In the meantime -- thwap:

🎶If you're guilty and you know it tweet some more
If you're guilty and you know it tweet some more
If you're guilty and you know it, and can't help yourself but show it
If you're guilty and you know it tweet some more🎶

— Patrick S. Tomlinson (@stealthygeek) February 27, 2018

More responses here.

He's Sweating

Un- indicted co- conspirator Donald "Rump" Trump was up late last night and early this morning tweeting his little fingers off, producing a volume of bullshit distractions and conspiracies that was remarkable even for him.  Following Special Counsel Robert Mueller's indictment of Russians involved in meddling in the 2016 elections, do you suppose he would express a desire to get to the bottom of this and protect our country from future meddling, like a patriotic American president would do? Haha no:

Very sad that the FBI missed all of the many signals sent out by the Florida school shooter. This is not acceptable. They are spending too much time trying to prove Russian collusion with the Trump campaign - there is no collusion. Get back to the basics and make us all proud!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 18, 2018

General McMaster forgot to say that the results of the 2016 election were not impacted or changed by the Russians and that the only Collusion was between Russia and Crooked H, the DNC and the Dems. Remember the Dirty Dossier, Uranium, Speeches, Emails and the Podesta Company!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 18, 2018

Then, this morning:

If it was the GOAL of Russia to create discord, disruption and chaos within the U.S. then, with all of the Committee Hearings, Investigations and Party hatred, they have succeeded beyond their wildest dreams. They are laughing their asses off in Moscow. Get smart America!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 18, 2018

Your desperation is showing, Cadet Bone Spurs! Not only that, you're showing once again your basic lack of human empathy, in this case for the victims of the Florida massacre:

What the president has not suggested may be responsible for the school shooting in Florida: guns.

What the president has suggested may be responsible for the school shooting in Florida: the Russia investigation.

— Olivia Nuzzi (@Olivianuzzi) February 18, 2018

Going after the FBI yet again might not be the best legal strategy for you:

Mueller will be interested in this tweet, because Trump explicitly states that he doesn’t want the FBI investigating collusion with Russia. This could be used as evidence of his intent when he fired Comey. https://t.co/Lz5aKeEA93

— Renato Mariotti (@renato_mariotti) February 18, 2018

Even with the investigation revealing only the tip of the iceberg so far, the level of distraction and denial is reaching a crescendo with Rump, his lickspittles in the White (Supremacist) House and the right- wing propaganda empire. They know what they did and that Mueller knows, too.

So, beyond the Twitter bravado and the desperate clamoring to shape a false narrative, one telling observation holds:

President Trump not a believer in the “never let them see you sweat” theory of crisis management

— David Frum (@davidfrum) February 18, 2018

The Russian Indictments Are The Mueller Investigation's Insurance Policy

A number of commentators have noted that the indictment of 13 Russians and 3 organizations announced yesterday in the Trump- Russia probe have had the effect of ensuring the survival of Special Counsel Robert Mueller and Deputy AG Rod Rosenstein and the probe itself. The richly detailed, highly credible forensics displayed in the indictment highlighted this as an investigation concerning a foreign adversary's attack on American democracy -- a hard thing to be against unless you're, say, a Russian asset. It's strength as a legal document has also had the desired effect of driving a stake into the heart of un-indicted co- conspirator Donald "Rump" Trump's risible and self- serving pronouncements that this has all been a "hoax" engineered by Democrats.

Neo- con Jennifer Rubin says that, because of the credibility of the indictments, "It will be exceptionally hard, if not impossible, for Trump now to fire Rosenstein or Mueller."

Noah Bookbinder and Norm Eisen elaborate on the same point:

This indictment also makes it still harder for the president to fire Mueller. The special counsel now has outstanding charges, either through pleas or indictments, against 17 people and three organizations ranging from lying to investigators to a complex scheme to undermine the integrity of a U.S. presidential election. It can hardly be said that he has been ineffective, and it is difficult to imagine that a decision to fire him at this point could be seen as anything other than an effort to interfere with an investigation of the greatest national significance.

Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY), ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, sums up why any interference from now on by the un- indicted co- conspirator would be seen as full blown treason:

"...At this point, any step President Trump may take to interfere with the Special Counsel’s investigation—including removing Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein, or threatening to remove Special Counsel Mueller directly—will have to be seen as a direct attempt to aid the Russian government in attacking American democracy.”

It's not a stretch to say this also now applies to Rump's enablers, like Nunes and Grassley -- and this chinless wonder, who deserves an investigation into his own actions.

Lawfare's Ben Wittes has a must- read article on the indictments here. In the end, Wittes tweets there's one thing for certain:

From Mueller's point of view, however, it is another huge show of informational strength. The public—and the President—should understand this indictment as the small tip of a very large iceberg in terms of what Mueller knows and what evidence and intelligence he has.

— Benjamin Wittes (@benjaminwittes) February 17, 2018

Saturday Dreamin'

This is the show we want to see un- indicted co- conspirator Donald "Rump" Trump and his crime family starring in:


(h/t good friend P.E.C. for bringing this to our attention)

Quote Of The Day - What To Look For Monday

 “I would watch and see if Donald Trump has a reaction and talks in away that could be used against him in the future. The second thing I would look at is if the president sends some kind of message to the potential defendant or at other witnesses. Is he sending a message of intimidation in some way through himself and his cohorts, suggesting that people should not be talking and should keep their mouths shut?”  -- former U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara on CNN's "State of the Union." For the sake of moving the process forward, let's hope Russian stooge Donald "Rump" Trump's adult day care calls in sick on Monday.