President Trump is sweating. The raid on his personal attorney, Michael Cohen’s home and office have him in full self-preservation mode, and that could be damaging for him, if somebody doesn’t pull him back from the edge.
He doesn’t have Hope Hicks, anymore. In the past, it was Hicks who would reason with him, strategize the message, and hopefully help him calm down.
John Kelly is rumored to no longer have that kind of juice with Trump. He’s lost favor, and some are whispering that it’s because Trump has grown tired of being told “No.”
All petulant, entitled children eventually do.
Axios is reporting that sources close to the president are concerned for what was serious before, but has now been turned way too real.
One of the sources said: “Mueller’s investigation has been drip, drip. This was a giant leap forward … a personal hit. … They were moving in inches. Today, they moved a mile.”
Another source is quoted:
“He takes the Russia stuff as a political hit job. This was a personal affront. This was the red line” of intrusion into personal financial matters.
But Mueller has broad authority, and Trump may have sparked this himself, after remarking on the Stormy Daniels business aboard Air Force One, recently.
It’s rather ironic that Trump’s devotees were just smirking over what they felt was the Daniels controversy fading away, only to have it lurch back to life and send the investigation into potential Trump wrongdoing in the most alarming direction.
While appearing with senior military leadership to speak about the crisis in Syria, on Monday evening, Trump made it about the raid on Cohen (with an “…and Syria, too”) moment thrown in.
How much trouble is Cohen in, and how much of it splashes back on Trump?
The WashPost cites three sources as saying Cohen “is under federal investigation for possible bank fraud, wire fraud and campaign finance violations.”
And as I told you earlier today, there was a $150,000 “donation” from a Russian steel magnate, Victor Pinchuk, to the Donald J. Trump Foundation while Trump was running for the presidency, in exchange for a video appearance at a conference in Kiev.
Cohen facilitated that transaction, and Mueller is said to be looking into it.
Trump went on what was about a 10 minute rant against the raid.
Along with an overuse of the word “disgraceful,” and a resurgence of the “witch hunt” nonsense:
“…he accused those agents of his government of “an attack on our country, in a true sense. It’s an attack on what we all stand for.”
No it’s not. It’s tough. It’s not pretty, but I think you’re really overstating the circumstances, here.
Also:
“…said, repeating back a question: “Why don’t I just fire Mueller? … Well, I think it’s a disgrace what’s going on. We’ll see what happens. But I think it’s really a sad situation when you look at what happened. And many people have said, ‘You should fire him.”
That’s desperation, and pretty much would be his end.
He also went after Attorney General Jeff Sessions, again:
“…referred to the investigation as “the most conflicted group of people I’ve ever seen. The Attorney General made a terrible mistake … when he recused himself. … [W]e would have … put a different Attorney General in.”
Sessions punched his own ticket when he threw in early behind this ridiculous carnival barker, with his long and tawdry past. That being said, this situation may see Sessions emerge as the unlikely hero and most ethical member of Trump’s closest circle.
The coming days will be chaos on top of chaos, so get ready.
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