Stable genius thinks discrediting America will save him. He's only discrediting himself.
by digby
My Salon column today:
If there's one thing you would have thought Donald Trump would have learned in the past two years it's that the biggest mistake he ever made was going on TV with Lester Holt and admitting that he was thinking about the Russia investigation when he decided to fire FBI Director James Comey. Recall that he was rambling in his stream of consciousness when he just sort of blurted it out without prompting. That revealing statement was not only what precipitated the appointment of Robert Mueller, it is also one of the most compelling pieces of evidence that he was obstructing justice when he did it, a confession of his intent. It's true that Trump has said and done hundreds of stupid things during his tenure, but that one really stands out as the blunder of all blunders.
Oops, he did it again. This week, in the midst of what observers everywhere are characterizing as a meltdown, Trump gave an interview to The Daily Caller in which he was asked if he had come up with any names for the permanent Attorney General appointment, specifically Chris Christie. Trump replied that his Acting AG, Matthew Whitaker is highly respected in the Department of Justice and that he got a "very good decision" that affirmed his appointment was legal. Then he said:
I knew him only as he pertained, you know, as he was with Jeff Sessions. And, you know, look, as far as I’m concerned this is an investigation that should have never been brought. It should have never been had.
It’s something that should have never been brought. It’s an illegal investigation. And you know, it’s very interesting because when you talk about not Senate confirmed, well, Mueller’s not Senate confirmed.
Nobody had mentioned Russia or the Mueller investigation. The question wasn't even about Whitaker. Just as he blurted out his intent when asked why he fired James Comey, he blurted out his intent when he was asked about the Attorney General. He doesn't have the mental discipline not to reveal his motive for firing or hiring anyone when it comes to the Russia probe. If one didn't know better one would think he is subconsciously begging to be indicted for obstruction of justice.
In any other administration, Whitaker would never have been chosen because of the obvious appearance of bias since he spent months trashing the investigation and declaring the president innocent of all charges. Indeed, it's obvious that was the reason he was hired. At this point no one knows if the ethics advisers in the DOJ have been asked to weigh in on his possible conflicts of interest in that he worked closely with Sam Clovis, a subject the of the investigation. And even so, the consensus seems to be that he can simply refuse to recuse even if they say he should. After what happened with Sessions, Whitaker recusing himself is as likely as Donald Trump shaving his head. So, for all we know, Whitaker has been read into the investigation and he's been on the horn with Trump sharing all the details. That might very well explain Trump's thought process in that moment.
It would also explain why for the first time in weeks he fired off a volley of tweets about Mueller that are even more hysterical than usual:
Trump making wild accusations is nothing new. What is new is that he's now talking about the "inner workings" of the investigation. This raises suspicion that he's heard something from Whitaker although it's certainly possible that he's hearing from people who were interviewed by the prosecutors and/or the Grand Jury. But if so he's once again raising suspicions that he's obstructing justice, this time by witness tampering. (And maybe he just heard something from some mouthpiece on Fox or is making it up out of thin air. He's doing that with increasing frequency these days.)
The mainstream media is overflowing with reports about chaos and pandemonium inside the White House. Theories abound about why his hysteria has escalated so precipitously.(I gave mine earlier his week --- he can't deal with losing and feels he's been betrayed by his own people.) Whatever it is, it's clear that he's cracking under the pressure.
However, it's not altogether true that this is purely an emotional reaction. Trump is not a good political strategist, as the recent election results attest. But that doesn't mean he doesn't have a survival strategy. He told a journalist what it was all the way back in 2016.
CBS's Lesley Stahl shared an anecdote last spring about an interview at Trump Tower shortly after the election. She asked him if he planned to continue bashing the media:
I said, you know that is getting tired, why are you doing this — you’re doing it over and over and it’s boring. He said you know why I do it? I do it to discredit you all and demean you all, so when you write negative stories about me no one will believe you.
I'd say he's been quite successful, at least with about 40% of the population. But he's not just doing that with the press. He's demeaned the Intelligence Community, the Department of Justice and the Mueller investigation. He also is instilled distrust in the electoral system in ways that are absurd but plant the seeds for him to challenge the results if he loses, something he clearly planned to do in 2016. His survival strategy is to discredit anyone he believes threatens him and persuade at least half the people not to believe them even if they show proof.
Right now he's facing the choice between pulling the plug on the Mueller investigation and dealing with the firestorm that he knows will follow or letting it unfold and hope that enough people become so convinced that the prosecutors are biased and untrustworthy that they will react to Mueller as the public reacted to Ken Starr's report in 1998. (Majority Leader Mitch McConnell R-KY, suggested that was possible as he concern trolled the Democrats last week about engaging in "presidential harassment.")
He is escalating his attacks on Mueller and the DOJ because he believes that is how he will get out of this mess. After all, Clinton survived just fine. Unfortunately for Trump all the recent opinion polls show Mueller with over 50% approval while Ken Starr never got more than 28%. Bill Clinton had a 60% approval rating on the day he was impeached --- and Trump remains mired in the low 40s.
Trump doesn't seem to realize is that his strategy won't work if the person who attempts to discredit others so that no one will believe them flagrantly discredits himself in the process.
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