Posted on 07/28/2017 9:44:41 AM PDT by Kaslin
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.
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.
THIS IS BS
Sessions was already shown great appreciation for his early support for Trump, by being put into a job HE IS FAILING AT.
He got a shot, he blew it.
“Trump’s tweets about Sessions are only demoralizing his base.”
He don’t know me very well, do he? ;)
I wish he’d quit with trashing people in tweets....and revealing policy in tweets. I’m a huge supporter of Trump and know he’s up against a monster but don’t think he’s doing himself, or us, any favors by trashing his own people in tweets.
He’s gunnysacked.
I continue to think that Trump and Sessions are fine.
All the Democrats and all the media have loudly proclaimed the honor and integrity of Jeff Sessions.
Now the DWS/Pakistani IT scandal is heating up.
With all the investigating that has been going on, and which will continue to go on, I suspect that AG Sessions will find plenty of reasons to investigate DWS, Huma, Hillary and others.
The Russia thing will die from lack of evidence. The scandal which involves Democrats will catch fire.
And who will step forward and demand that Jeff Sessions back off on the investigation of the DNC? Haven’t we already established that he is a man of honor and integrity?
He entered the “kill box” when he threw his hat into the ring in 2015.
He put on is “TRUMP” asbestos suit on, got his flame-throwing gear, and it was “Let’s have at it” ever since.
Trump is a FIGHTER and a WINNER. Pat Buchanan goes off the rails too often.
exactly... and Mooch’s foul mouth rant yday makes it look like some kind of jr high committee or something... I thought T would be a smart business type leader... seems awfully amateurish to me...
Pearls...where are my pearls?!!! I think I have the vapours!!!
It’s a good column, nevertheless.
Sessions needs to stay home if he not up to doing his JOB!
Trump should have fired him immediately after his little recusal routine.
The Last thing Trump needs is an AG that wants a weekly check, but is afraid to go after the Big FISH?
Why is Hillary still breathing free air, or Comey for that matter? ANS: WE have no AG or DOJ! WE have guy who is stuck in JUNIOR HIGH!.... yeah, SESSIONS! End of STORY!
A quick overt and not fully prepared move to take down the Cabal is the most likely thing to trigger panic and an Impeachment move, I think.
“We are headed for a collision between President Trump and Director Mueller.”
I don’t think so. The minute the whole Loretta Lynch, Fusion GPS, the pardon for Mills and the “Matters” by Comey comes to light, Mueller will shut down the Trump investigation as a quid pro quo for Hillary and Obama.
The other thing is, the Mueller investigation is not criminal and it is based on Russian hacking and not perceived Trump misdeeds. In theory, the minute Mueller or any of his Clinton donors opens up a Trump financial statement that isn’t already public knowledge they can and should be subject to criminal prosecution.
Laughable. No President Trump is not. And his base is not leaving him.
A Freeper observed (sorry I don’t recall who): Trump criticizes Sessions, Democrats defend Sessions, Sessions charges Democrats. Now what can they say?
It could all be a setup.
Exactly who decided that a Special Counsel was needed? Who agreed?
If everything Pat Buchanan suggests really happens, Sessions reputation will be shredded as the little man on the wedding cake who destroyed the last truly America-loving president.
The Russia thing will die from lack of evidence.
You may be right, but it’s morphing into the everything thing,
via 15 democrat lawyers.
With all the investigating that has been going on, and which will continue to go on...
*************
Republican led investigations never go anywhere. All kabuki theater. I have zero confidence they will ever hold anyone accountable for anything.
A box from which he can kill his enemies? Yes.
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