WHILE MUELLER SETS UP IN D.C., TRUMP IS TAKING OFF
Mueller’s grand jury news bittersweet
It’s painful to acknowledge that reports of special counsel Robert S. Mueller’s convening of a grand jury in Washington to widen the probe of possible coordination between the Kremlin and the Trump campaign is welcome news.
While this page is no fan of Donald Trump, it is an unabashed fan of this country and democracy. So the very fact that there is enough evidence here for the special counsel to hire 16 prosecutors and open a grand jury probe seals the knowledge that our country is and has been at dire risk these last months.
We’d like to think that Trump and his family are just bunglers, but consider that Mueller’s most recent prosecutor hire is Greg Andres, a longtime white-collar lawyer specializing in foreign bribery.
The Washington Post on Thursday wrote: “Mueller’s investigation now includes a look at whether President Trump obstructed justice by firing FBI Director James B. Comey, as well as deep dives into financial and other dealings of former national security adviser Michael T. Flynn and former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort.”
So even while the news is frightening, painful and bittersweet, it also is welcome. Whether the Trump administration is the most inept one we’ve seem in recent memory or the most treasonous, we need to know it and take action accordingly.
Congress and political double-speak
NBC and MSNBC correspondent Kasie Hunt haunted the halls of Congress on Thursday to ask Republicans and Democrats alike a simple question: “Do you think Donald Trump is honest?” She never really got a straight answer.
Sen. Lindsay Graham, R-S.C.: “I’m not going down that road. Most people don’t think he’s honest if you believe this poll. … He’s got an image problem he needs to deal with.”
(The Quinnipiac University poll he referenced found that 62 percent of Americans surveyed believe Trump is not honest, and only 33 percent approve of his performance as president.)
Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah barely missed a beat when Hunt caught up with him. “Yes, I do. He has a good time sometimes, but I think on important issues he’s very honest.”
Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., did miss a beat or two. “Uh, yes,” he finally answered before bolting.
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, outran the reporter, saying, as he ducked into a car: “I’m not going to play the game.”
Republican Sen. Rand Paul also ducked into a car, saying only, “I’ll catch you.”
Even Democrat Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia was circumspect. “I think it’s hard to build the confidence that we need to when there’s so much contradiction that’s already been recorded. They’ll have to be a little more careful how they’re saying things.”
Clearly — and unlike the Americans polled — some in Congress also have trouble acknowledging truths.
Trump’s much-needed vacation
Perhaps we’ll get some breaks over the next two weeks. Our president of 196 days is off now on what his administration calls a 17-day “working vacation” at a Trump golf resort in New Jersey. When this vacation is done, Trump will have already spent 53 “leisure” days in office.
Yes, this is the guy who berated Barack Obama mercilessly for a golf day or a vacation, and who said confidently in 2015. “I would not be a president who took vacations.”
Well, just for the record, as a country we’re probably better off that Trump has spent plenty of days off. Imagine what damage he could have wreaked in the White House by now if he’d actually been there every day of the past six and a half months. And, yes, it’s costly. The price tag of his weekend jaunts this year alone are estimated to outpace President Obama’s entire eight-year travel budget.
One man’s leaker is another’s whistle-blower
Meanwhile back in the D.C. swamp, the Trump administration’s Justice Department is focusing on leaks.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions confirmed Friday that investigations of leaks have tripled under Trump. Sessions (remember, he’s “beleaguered” and “weak” on leaks) vowed to bring criminal charges against those found to have given classified information to the news media.
Wait. Have you ever heard either Trump or Sessions be nearly so vociferous about investigating Russia’s meddling in our election? Or Trump Jr.’s eagerness to get dirt from Russians on his father’s opponent? Or Paul Manafort’s Ukraine payments? For that matter, have you heard from them any discussion of probes when Trump spilled highly sensitive intelligence related to the Islamic State to Russian visitors in the Oval Office? Or when he conducted high-level diplomatic talks regarding North Korea with the Japanese prime minister in full view of guests in the Mar-a-Lago outdoor dining room?
Frankly, the many leaks coming from White House staff — think of them as whistle-blowing — seem to be a healthy impulse, exposing to the light of day this conflicted, chaotic administration.
Perhaps there would be fewer leaks if there were fewer lies and questionable actions.
Or put another way, if the contents of the sink were not so corrosive, the leaks wouldn’t so easily form.