There Trump Goes Again by Eugene Robinson
Trump finds himself exactly where he doesn't want to be
President Trump at present finds himself exactly where he doesn't desire to be: under investigation by a dogged, highly respected prosecutor who owes him no personal or political loyalty. And the president has only himself to arraign.
Trump allow off some steam Thursday morning by issuing a couple of angry statements on Twitter: "They fabricated up a phony collusion with the Russians story, plant zero proof, then now they go for obstruction of justice on the phony story. Nice." And then: "You are witnessing the single greatest WITCH HUNT in American political history - led by some very bad and conflicted people!"
Someone please take away his phone.
Not for the first time, Trump gives a false impression of what's really going on. He pretends at that place has already been a finding that there was no collusion between anyone involved in his presidential entrada and the Russian try to meddle in our election. No such decision has been reached.
To the contrary: Cheers to The Post, we now know that collusion is only ane of three subject areas that the FBI investigation, now led past special counsel Robert S. Mueller III, is exploring.
(Patrick Martin,McKenna Ewen/The Washington Mail service)
Some other is, indeed, the possibility that Trump may have obstructed justice in his repeated efforts to quash the investigation. How could whatsoever prosecutor fail to pursue this line of inquiry? Trump fired FBI Director James B. Comey, sent out spokespeople and surrogates with a far-fetched comprehend story to explain the dismissal, and then told NBC's Lester Holt that the real reason for the firing was Comey's pursuit of the Russian federation investigation. Trump likewise bragged to visiting Russian diplomats that getting rid of Comey relieved him of "nifty pressure level because of Russia."
Those very public actions and statements lone weep out for investigation. Simply Comey has testified under adjuration that in a private meeting, Trump raised the investigation of fired national security adviser Michael Flynn — function of the larger Russia probe — and said, "I hope y'all tin can see your manner articulate to letting this go, to letting Flynn go." Comey said he took this "hope," coming from the president of the United states of america, as a direction.
Trump likewise reportedly asked Managing director of National Intelligence Daniel Coats and CIA Manager Mike Pompeo to intercede with Comey on the Flynn case, then later asked Coats and National Security Agency chief Michael S. Rogers to state publicly that Trump was not personally nether investigation. Plain, none of the officials complied with these requests.
In sworn testimony on Capitol Hill, Coats and Rogers declined to speak about their conversations with the president — though it is doubtful they had whatsoever legal right to keep mum. According to The Postal service, Mueller plans to interview both officials before long and also plans to question Richard Ledgett, who until recently held the No. ii job at the NSA.
To me, this looks, walks and quacks similar a pattern. Perhaps it does to Mueller as well.
Finally, we know that Mueller's investigators are likewise looking for "any testify of possible fiscal crimes amongst Trump associates," as The Mail service phrased information technology. Information technology goes without proverb that discovering any money flows between Trump campaign officials or directorate and Russian government-linked individuals or institutions would be explosive. That is why investigators want to know more well-nigh a meeting between Trump'southward son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and executives of Vnesheconombank, a Russian land-owned development bank now nether U.Southward. sanctions.
Those are the prongs of the investigation — that we know of. Attending is focused on the question of obstruction but considering so much of Trump'southward campaign to deep-half dozen the investigation has been conducted openly, at full book. I don't know whether the FBI and Mueller's crack team of prosecutors take any solid evidence of collusion or shady fiscal deals. If they find none, I'm certain Mueller volition forthrightly study that fact — but merely after completing a proper investigation, which takes fourth dimension.
Other presidents have managed to compartmentalize investigations and go about the business of governing, but Trump seems consumed by the Mueller probe. His tweet about a "WITCH HUNT" conducted by "bad" people is just a Trumpian version of what appears to be the official White House line — that this is somehow a partisan attempt to delegitimize the Trump presidency.
Simply it is not. As Trump yet struggles to acknowledge, the U.Southward. intelligence community is fully convinced that Russian federation carried out an attack on our democracy. We demand to know what happened so that we tin can ensure it never happens over again. Why would the president object to a thorough investigation — unless he had something to hibernate?
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Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/trump-finds-himself-exactly-where-he-doesnt-want-to-be/2017/06/15/e3c3262c-51fd-11e7-91eb-9611861a988f_story.html
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