The White House announced on Monday that President Donald Trump would not take any questions after he admitted on Twitter that his son may have colluded with Russians during the 2016 campaign. Later in the day, White House correspondents confirmed that the the White House had issued a “lid” on presidential travel and questions from the press. I have to admit, I am not sure what a “lid” indicates, or whether it is unusual for this particular president, I do know that with most presidents there is always one pool reporter on call who knows of the president’s whereabouts, plans, etc, who can then file a pool report that all can see. Perhaps this means we’re all in the dark with respect to Trump for the time being.
It is coming right down to the end now. A CNN panel noted that Robert Mueller had not spoken to Donald Junior Trump, which indicates they are either saving him for the very last phase, to truly make the president think, or they simply plan on charging Trump Jr. For what it is worth, my inclination is that the next round of conspiracy indictments will involve an indictment against the president’s son – if not the president himself.
CNN host Kate Bolduan noted that even as the administration’s story changes, one element never changes, and is always included:
“If there’s one constant in the inconsistencies in all of it, the one thing is that the president says that he didn’t know anything about the meeting … in advance,” she said.
“That’s the one constant there is, which I find fascinating.”
That is because Trump knows full well that the meeting was illegal. If Trump was not at the meeting, it indicates that it’s all likely because they knew before the meeting that it was illegal (the FBI had met with the Trump campaign to warn them that the Russians would be attempting to make inroads into the campaign). Trump’s staff is apparently begging him to stop tweeting about the Trump Tower meeting in June of 2016. If he hasn’t learned by now …
A review of the many shifting justifications for the meeting demonstrates that the Trumps knew all along that the meeting was illegal, as seen in this MSNBC review:
Fox News has a few analysts that have started to see reality through the propaganda fog, even Judge Napolitano is beginning to explain real things of consequence to the Fox audience:
“There is no such law and there is no such word in the law as collusion, that’s a Hollywood and media term,” Napolitano explained to co-hosts of the show. “The legal term is conspiracy. If the Trump campaign and the Russians work together, but was there an agreement to work together?
“The crime is the agreement,” he added. “Whether the agreement was put into place or not. That’s what Bob Mueller is looking for.”
The Fox host then asked why Hillary has not been charged for funding the research into the Russian contacts. This – this question is just so damn revealing. Does anything even sound illegal about paying for covert research? So long as she noted it as a campaign expense, there is nothing illegal about it. But, note that Napolitano JUST said that an agreement to work WITH THE RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT would constitute the crime, and the Foxian “whadabout” instinct is SO strong that the host wonders why they can’t get Hillary for exposing working with a foreign government. That is just how strong these people have been conditioned.
And now for the downright weird. Don Jr. was on the Laura Ingraham show Monday morning. Ingraham asked Don Jr. about the swirling controversy and, well, the video/podcast is down below and I’ll get the transcripts from Rawstory:
After playing criticism of the shifting story, Ingraham said, “you want any comments on that Donnie, because they’re hitting you on that for contradictions. I mean, they’re calling it worse than contradictions, obviously.”
“Hello,” the president’s son asks.
“Donnie, what is your reaction to all that,” Ingraham asked.
There was a seven second pause following the question.
“Hey Donnie, you there,” Ingraham asked.
Eventually Don Jr. came back on the air and blamed …the media and Democrats for the silence. He never really explained the rationale.
We are getting close.
The country cannot take much more, and whatever minimal effectiveness Trump had in maintaining that the lights were on and that the executive office “worked” at all, is quickly slipping as he begins to realize what he likely realized the night of the election, when he looked stunned and terrified, that his history with Russia is sure to be exposed.
It feels likely that we’re approaching some sort of endgame. My favorite tell is when Fox analysts start telling the truth – because they know that something huge is about to be revealed and the audience won’t have time to forget their answer, thus they answer honestly, knowing they’ll need the credibility very soon. Judge Napolitano patiently explained to a very distressed Fox host that Don Jr. conspired to work with the Russian government, and he even slapped down the most basic “whadabout” in existence, as irrelevant. It tells me that he realizes we’re close to the end game here.
