Guest Post by Patrick J. Buchanan
Given the bravery he showed in stepping out front as the first senator to endorse Donald Trump, Jeff Sessions deserves better from his boss than the Twitter-trashing he has lately received.
The attorney general has not only been loyal to Trump and his agenda, he has the respect and affection of ex-colleagues in Congress and, more broadly, of populists and conservatives nationally.
Trump’s tweets about Sessions are only demoralizing his base.
Yet the president is not wrong to be exasperated and enraged.
A yearlong FBI investigation into Russian hacking has failed to produce a single indictment. Yet the president watches impotently as a special counsel pulls together a lethal force, inside his own administration, whose undeclared ambition is to bring him down.
Trump’s behavior suggests that he sees the Mueller threat as potentially mortal.
How did we get to this peril point when there is no evidence that Trump or any senior aide colluded in the hacking? As for the June 2016 meeting with the Russians, called by Donald Trump Jr. when told by a friend that Moscow had dirt on Hillary Clinton, even that was no crime.
Foolish, yes; criminal, no. So, again, how did we get to where talk of impeachment and presidential pardons fills the air?
First, Attorney General Sessions, as a campaign adviser and surrogate for Trump who had met with the Russian ambassador, had to recuse himself from the investigation. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein then assumed oversight authority.
Trump then fired FBI Director James Comey and boasted to Russia’s foreign minister about having gotten the “crazy nut job” off his case. His Oval Office comments leaked. Comey then leaked notes of his meeting with Trump. Rosenstein then washed his hands of the mess by naming a special counsel.
And he chose a bulldog, ex-FBI Director Robert Mueller.
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Hence, where are we? Despite zero evidence of Trump or his aides colluding in the hacking, a counterintelligence investigation is evolving into a criminal investigation. Mueller is now hiring veteran investigators and prosecutors specializing in white-collar crime.
This is not a witch hunt. It is an Easter egg hunt on the White House lawn, where the most colorful eggs are likely to be the tax returns and the financial records of Trump, who built a real estate empire in a town where winners brag about how they gutted the losers.
Every enemy of Trump is going to be dropping the dime on him to Mueller. Moreover, there is no history of special counsels being appointed and applauded by the press, who went home without taking scalps.
Trump understands this. Reports of his frustration and rage suggest that he knows he has been maneuvered, partly by his own mistakes, into a kill box from which there may be no bloodless exit.
What Trump needs is a leader at Justice who will confine the Mueller investigation to the Russian hacking, and keep Mueller’s men from roaming until they hit prosecutorial pay dirt.
Consider now Trump’s narrowing options.
He can fire Jeff Sessions. But that will enrage Trump’s base to whom the senator is a loyal soldier. And anyone Trump nominates as AG would not be confirmed unless he or she pledged not to interfere with Mueller.
He could direct Rosenstein to fire Mueller. But Rosenstein would assume the Elliot Richardson role in the Saturday Night Massacre, when that AG refused to fire Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox, resigned, and was canonized as a martyr by the Never-Nixon media.
Even if Trump finds a Justice Department loyalist to play the role of Solicitor General Robert Bork, who carried out Nixon’s orders and fired Cox, this would only mean Mueller’s departure. Mueller’s staff of prosecutors and investigators would still be there, beavering away.
When Archibald Cox was fired, Nixon ordered his entire office shut down. Yet, within days of the firestorm, it was up and running again with a new special prosecutor. And impeachment resolutions were blossoming in the House.
Another Trump option would be to leave Mueller alone and hope for a benign outcome. But from reports of his rage at the recusal of Sessions and unwillingness of Rosenstein to restrict Mueller to the Russian hacking scandal, Trump seems to sense that an unrestricted investigation represents a mortal threat to his presidency.
And all the talk of impeachment and pardons suggests that this city can also see what lies over the next hill. After all, we have been here before.
From his history, Mueller is not a man to be intimidated by charges of bias. These will only steel his resolve to pursue with his subpoena power every document he wants, including tax returns, until he has satisfied himself.
The president is unlikely to view this process with indulgence, and patience does not appear to rank high among his virtues.
We are headed for a collision between President Trump and Director Mueller.
Just like the ACA was designed to fail, I believe the Trump presidency was designed to fail as well.
designed to fail by who?
If Trump is taken out,I believe that there might be sporadic violence but even more so there will be a withdrawing from the mainstream political process by people who are on the true political right.
You think the alt-right is gaining momentum now,let ’em take Trump out.
If he is “taken out” I rather think the violence won’t be the Ferguson type that leaves a few broken windows and such needing repair, but will be something very different and long term, and more deadly than simple rioting (which probably won’t take place).
Not a single House democrat voted to impeach Bill Clinton, and not a single Senate democrat voted to remove him. If Republicans act in like fashion, Trump’ll be fine. Of course a big chunk of Republicans are perfidious bastards, but hopefully McCain will be dead soon and joining that other Judas.
A good percentage of Republicans would love to see Trump removed and the Status Quo returned to normal.
Mostly the same ones that never really tried to stand up to Obama, even after they had both the House and Senate (but they’ve had no apparent qualms about standing up against Trump and the voters who elected him).
To my observation, those who hate President Trump and want him removed from office will not be satisfied with the change, as VP Pence will probably not be very much different from his predecessor. The only victory for the cloud people then will be seating someone more akin to Hillary and to accomplish this there will need to be a complete breakdown of our current system of governance. With sadness I see the kill box approaching, but the truly frightening occurrence will be what happens after, as well as the economic/military disasters that will need to be initiated to make it happen.
All these red heron’s while Bill and Hillary fly off into the sunset on a Soros/Obama jet…….justice will never be served in this feudal system.
We have all, each and everyone, been irrevocably maneuvered inside the kill box. Period!
trump doomed himself when he did not clean house as soon as he took office. every obama appointee
should have been fired . comey and all . The GOP is much more of a factor in this than the democrats.
they are backstabbing him at every turn.
I guess it was just arrogant of me to do volunteer work campaigns,give money, and vote for the GOP for the last 36 years. They will side with the democrats if they don’t like whom people like me choose.
my time in the future will be better spent learning conversational Spanish. they’ve gotten their last vote and last $ from me.
You also need to re-register as an Independent. One benefit will be they will stop bugging you for money.
Sessions loves Asset Forfeiture laws – policing for profit. That is all I need to know. He needs to go….period.
One of the most remarkable messages the Nixon affair sent to the world, the president is not above the law. How we got to this point is a matter of debate.
Trump bitches that Sessions should not have recused himself. Sessions had to do so to appease the hounds of hell that were going after him for failing to disclose Russian conversations. It was a minor thing, but the Feds feed on minor things. Big mistakes can be overlooked but it’s the small stuff that a person has to sweat to avoid getting fucked by the Feds.
Maybe Trump should have released his tax returns. He said if Sessions had told him he’d recuse himself…Maybe if Trump had let the voters know how dirty he is, we would not have a president beleaguered as he is by the press, the Congress and the citizenry. Now before you get you panties moist, let me say, Trump’s money isn’t all clean. There must be a dollar bill tucked away in there that should have gone to a Polish worker.
Trump must really be worried that Mueller will find that and maybe more. He should have disclosed his tax returns. The people would have forgiven his peccadilloes. They loved him, after all. What the public can’t stand is a liar. A rascal is fine, a philanderer maybe but one who lies to the public is one who is going down. Just ask Mike Flynn.
El C.
You surprised me buddy. You usually think about what you are saying but you were asleep at the wheel on this.
A president is not above the law? What the public can’t stand is a liar? One who lies to the public is one who is going down?
The Voters knew he was a snake when they picked him up.
fleabo, that the president is not ‘above the law’ was the lesson of Nixon.
There has to be a limit, a doorstop, at which point the public will say enough is enough. But Trumpo declared that he could shoot a person in broad daylight and get away with it.
That kind of declaration is a hypnotist’s trick. Scotty Adams wasn’t too far off the mark. Unfortunately, he was cheer leading for the fucker. Have you not read about the salesman’s trick? They tell you what they are going to do to you before they do it to you.
BTW, if your going to praise my comments, don’t shit on your good words with a ‘but’. Maggie pisses me off regularly but, by and large, there’s a couple of reasons I always forgive her. You haven’t given me much to work with.
El Gayote.
I merely said you usually think about what you are saying because I know that you do.
I didn’t say they resembled anything halfway intelligent or that you weren’t an asshole.
We did not learn squat from Nixon. The public will never say enough is enough. That whole thing was engineered and the public believed what they were told to believe.
Somebody politely tells you to pay attention because you are looking stupid and you revert to that cheap Al Bundy bullshit. You call yourself a sensitive Hispanic, “BUT” you have all the markings of a thin skinned little prick. The only “couple of reasons”
you forgive Maggie are in her bra.
Dang, at least you got one joke, asshole. Why do you think I wrote ‘by and large’?
Also, fuckweed, I have never called myself a sensitive Hispanic. As for thin-skinned, I would have died a thousand YoBo deaths and cluttered Admin’s email account if I were to let my thin skin get the best of me.
If I ever met Maggie in person, she’d probably have to tell me her eyes are up here. I also objectify T4C, she’s got a nice ass; I see her everywhere.
I hope your doing great, fleabo. I missed you there for a while.
El c
Have it your way then. twice I’ve made a friendly joke or comment and you start a shitstorm over it. That’s thin skinned. You’re too stupid to know who your friends are. I refuse to join that shitshow you have going over on codes of the underworld “BUT” I noticed someone tried to point out to you that your act is worn out and not working anymore “BUT” you continue with it. I was right the last time, you’re one lazy SOB. I haven’t been here much because I haven’t been well but I use everything I have to do better each day. You seem to wake up determined to be a bigger jerk.
Yeah, well, like I said, I missed you. I noticed you’d gone AWOL. Have you never heard the saying, you only hurt the one you love? Whose the thin-skinned bitch now?
Hang in there, fleabo. I’m always happy to know you are well.
Hey fleabitten, EC and I go back to Mayberry.
If by Mayberry, you mean Chanute.
Ah, yes… we shall always have Chanute.
I didn’t bring you up, he did. I’ve hardly said a word to you.
Flea, Maggie is always welcome on any article. She doesn’t need an invite. If I see you or BL or LLPOH on any article, I will definitely drop in to stir up some shit along with you guys.
Pissed off or pissed on seems to be our only choices.
What do you think is in his tax returns, EC? What is it that gets YOUR panties in a wad?
a. Don’t know. Must be delicate if he doesn’t want Mueller in there.
b. Don’t act stupid. Did you not see the Code’s article?
Maggie- Could it be that he makes money from this?
http://www.veteranstoday.com/trumps-russian-laundromat/
Good one BL. I almost did a Mr. Burns, “Excellent!”
It could be.
Oh what web that is being weaved…is this the 4th turning that’s been conceived ?
But first comes blare of trumpet deceived… and visions of marchers with freedoms relieved.
I see it as engineered paralysis to usher in civil war or revolution.
fleaster, to think I laughed at my son when he said that he’d read, Trump may be our last president.
He told me this around the election.
It appears that we are witnessing the disintegration of the current political parties. They will never be the same, except possibly in name only.
I believe that if Trump is impeached, however unlikely that may be, he could run again and win again.
I wish he would fire Sessions and I use to support Sessions and presently live in Alabama. Trump is right. Sessions had no right to recuse himself unless he spoke with Trump first. That being said, Sessions did nothing wrong by meeting with Russians in the course of his duties. I’m beginning to think Sessions was a plant and not all he was cracked up to be. Where are the Soros, Clinton and Obama administration officials indictments and don’t tell me there are not any.
This has been planned out for a long time, a conspiracy if you will, if they try to indict him.
Uncle Fester, Sessions recusing himself was the early trick to avoiding looking into the Trump sump. They tried to pin the Comey mess on the Deputy AG and the deputy fought back. Stay tuned.
I miss Stucky.