In his search for another target now that two of his campaign aides face charges stemming from special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe and another has pleaded guilty, President Donald Trump landed on Democratic lobbyist Tony Podesta.
Rather than repeating his calls to investigate a uranium deal carried out while Hillary Clinton was secretary of state and links between the Clinton campaign and a dossier alleging ties between himself and Russia, Trump tweeted Tuesday morning about Podesta’s departure from his lobbying firm, the Podesta Group.
The biggest story yesterday, the one that has the Dems in a dither, is Podesta running from his firm. What he know about Crooked Dems is….
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 31, 2017
….earth shattering. He and his brother could Drain The Swamp, which would be yet another campaign promise fulfilled. Fake News weak!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 31, 2017
Scrutiny of Podesta stems from the Mueller probe’s focus on Paul Manafort, the former Trump campaign chairman who was indicted for money laundering and failing to disclose lobbying work for a foreign entity, among other charges.
Manafort worked on behalf of a pro-Russia poltical party in Ukraine using an entity called the European Centre for a Modern Ukraine, according to the indictment. The Podesta Group also did work for the European Centre for a Modern Ukraine, and the firm has been subpoenaed by Mueller’s probe, although it has not been charged with any wrongdoing. The firm has said that the European Centre for a Modern Ukraine told it no foreign government or party funded its work.
Trump’s focus on Podesta came after he and the White House downplayed indictments against Manafort and his deputy, Rick Gates. The President distanced himself from the indictments by arguing that the charges stem from activities that took place before Manafort and Gates joined his campaign.
Those bets anyone? https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2017/10/31/trump-and-his-allies-are-laying-the-groundwork-for-a-saturday-night-massacre/?hpid=hp_no-name_opinion-card-a%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&utm_term=.e23dd9aa647f
By being Fox News’ most dedicated content consumer, Donald Trump is under the mistaken impression any Democrats give two flying shits about Tony Podesta.
Some pretty weird tail-wagging-the-dog shit going on here. Used to be that Fox News mostly took the White House’s talking points, not the other way around.
He’s desperately flailing; I hope Mueller has another big bucket of cold water to throw in his face. Keep telling yourself that everything is all right, Donald; denial is such a healthy response to reality.
In fairness, one could get the same impression reading the WaPo yesterday.
My read of the WH is that despite Bannon’s exhortations for everyone to commit conspiracy against the US and obstruction of justice, the Mueller investigation will not be messed with. Cobb seems to have convinced Trump that Mueller has a lot more than maybe Trump even knows, and therefore all of it could get released and damage him no matter what he does. Better to string this along. Cobb’s strategy of letting others take the fall while he finds a way to shield Trump from OOJ prosecution and impeachment still holds true. Where Cobb has erred is that he never took the conspiracy or money laundering tracks seriously enough. Trump’s meeting with Sessions and Pence also seems to have been inconclusive. It doesn’t feel like the meetings he had the weekend before he fired Comey. Everyone seems to be looking out for themselves. We’ve reached that stage of the mob story plot line.
The absence of GOP cover for Trump plus the lack of commitment to protect Mueller makes it a bit of a wildcard though. However, my view is that if the Dems follow through on the polling and deliver a beatdown to the GOP in VA and NJ that the GOP will crack a bit. It will demonstrate that the Democrats’ share of the white vote will be higher than the Obama years while the minority support for Dems stays at Obama like levels. That would spell wipe out for the GOP in 2018. GOP would definitely lose control of the Senate and likely the House if Dems across the country get the type of internals that Northam is getting in recent Q polls (polls are mixed to be fair, so that’s why I’m waiting on the actual result, but if Dems are pulling over 40% of the white vote in a southern state, the GOP is done).
They want those tax cuts, but like the health care debate, the proposal is fundamentally unpopular and there isn’t a consensus for an alternative, and no desire on the part of the GOP to go bipartisan with the Dems. I don’t have a great feel for the GOP’s commitment here, because there is no fleshed out proposal. They could easily settle for a modest tax cut but that’s not what the billionaires want. So I think the GOP is screwed and we may be headed to a protracted government shutdown that is rudderless.