Tuesday morning marked what looks like a breaking point for Donald Trump, as the full weight of the Mueller investigation bore down on him with the news that his old campaign manager had been caught still lying for him to federal authorities.
Just weeks ago, Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani was insisting — despite no indication from the special counsel that it was true — that Trump and Paul Manafort, the former campaign manager who has been convicted of a host of finance- and election-related felonies, had what is known as a “joint defense agreement.” And while that hasn’t been confirmed (and Giuliani is a proven and notorious liar), at least one aspect that comes with a JDA we already know is true in the ongoing saga of Robert Mueller: Manafort’s lawyers and Trump’s lawyers have been sharing information for months.
If there is even the tiniest hint that suggestions for Manafort to continue lying came from Team Trump, it could result in the most airtight case of witness tampering and obstruction of justice America has ever seen.
Manafort, of course, had already been slapped with a charge of witness tampering, after it was discovered that he was sneaking messages to other key figures in the case against him, having enlisted the assistance of Konstantin Kilimnik, a former Russian spy. That charge led to Manafort being jailed all the way up until his trial, a move that Trump and others attempted to cast as political.
Now Trump is feeling the heat, and where should he express his fury better than his favorite form of communication with his followers, Twitter:
The Phony Witch Hunt continues, but Mueller and his gang of Angry Dems are only looking at one side, not the other. Wait until it comes out how horribly & viciously they are treating people, ruining lives for them refusing to lie. Mueller is a conflicted prosecutor gone rogue….
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 27, 2018
….The Fake News Media builds Bob Mueller up as a Saint, when in actuality he is the exact opposite. He is doing TREMENDOUS damage to our Criminal Justice System, where he is only looking at one side and not the other. Heroes will come of this, and it won’t be Mueller and his…
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 27, 2018
….terrible Gang of Angry Democrats. Look at their past, and look where they come from. The now $30,000,000 Witch Hunt continues and they’ve got nothing but ruined lives. Where is the Server? Let these terrible people go back to the Clinton Foundation and “Justice” Department!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 27, 2018
The fact is, of course, there is no “other side” in this case. Even if there was yet another case to be made against Hillary Clinton in the tale of private servers and classified information beyond what has already been exhaustively investigated by an unfriendly Republican Congress and the full bore of American intelligence, it still would have nothing to do with Mueller’s purview, which is to investigate Trump’s involvement in the Russian scheme to infiltrate and “hack” American democracy.
Trump sounds like a drunk driver pleading with a cop who’s pulled him over to “just look at how fast all those other cars are going.”
Featured image via screen capture
