Assassination at the Capitol: Robert Mueller is going down

Assassination at the Capitol

Another high ranking government official is in critical condition today.  I am not referring to Congressman Steve Scales, shot by a mentally ill man, but Robert Mueller, the Special Counsel heading the investigation into Trump, being tortured and  discredited by Trump.

Robert Mueller is in critical condition, and is unlikely to survive.

Trump target

Readers who avoid Fox News and Breitbart and other sources of conservative media fail to understand how Trump can maintain his base of support among Republicans.  Among the GOP base--and therefore among GOP legislators--Trump is:

   ***Innocent of all charges

   ***the victim of a partisan political witch hunt

   ***receiving vicious criticism from mean spirited opponents completely unlike Trump's own mild and truthful criticisms of others

   ***set upon by partisan hold over Democrats in the FBI and CIA and elsewhere

   ***being investigated by utterly biased prosecutors, James Comey and now Robert Mueller

   ***the victim of leaks to the press which represent the only real threat to American democracy

   ***set upon by a mainstream media whose descriptions of Trump are completely biased and fake.

Bottom line:  Trump is an innocent victim.   Robert Mueller is the bad guy.

Meanwhile, the investigation into him is being done by a dishonest, leaking, partisan hack.  Trump is changing the story.   That is the big point to remember.   Trump is pivoting.  The story isn't Trump, or Trump's campaign's playing footsie with Russians, or Trump obstruction of justice.  It is the traitorous investigation into him by Robert Mueller.

Ideal for Trump is to avoid a Saturday Night Massacre repeat.  The best way to do that is to force Mueller to resign, not be fired.  His resignation would be a kind of admission of guilt, plus it saves GOP officeholders from the comparison with previous GOP legislators who pushed back at the time of the Nixon-led purge of AG Elliot Richardson, then Deputy AG William Ruckelshaus.

Tomorrow I will remind readers of an earlier analysis of the very successful Trump message technique of deny, pivot, accuse, and believe.   But for today, here is Thad Guyer's analysis of the impending Trump triumph.

Reader Warning: The following Guest Post contains political violence, strong descriptions of political torture and slow death, and the triumph of unsavory but hugely successful assassination of a man who had enjoyed near universal bipartisan support and admiration.  Reader discretion is advised.

Guest Post by Thad Guyer:

Thad Guyer

“A Wounded Special Prosecutor in the Perilous Land of the Troll”

Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller has entered the Trump swamp, a toxic miasma that almost always proves politically fatal, as Hillary Clinton, Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, and all the others in 2016 can attest.  New victims in 2017 include fired FBI Director James Comey and Loretta Lynch, who the Senate Judiciary Committee will now formally investigate for having demanded that Comey misrepresent as merely “a matter” what was officially a “criminal investigation” of Hillary Clinton. See, CNN, “Feinstein:  Judiciary Committee Must Step Up and Carry It’s Weight”, June 11, 2017, https://t.co/YrsnGq2f84.  

Thus far, whomsoever has crossed Trump has gone down—no exceptions—like the hairy claws of the “old, strong, slow and dim-witted man-eater” of a bridge troll grasping his victims in a Norwegian horror tale.  (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troll). 

Mueller has been brought to this precipice by his inability to control leaks from his own staff. It is a cardinal rule of every federal criminal investigation that secrecy is paramount.   An absolute exception from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act is records from any “pending” federal law enforcement investigation. It is the job of the prosecutor to prevent leaks from his office, and Mueller is in gross default of that duty.  Worse, he is tainted because of his close association with Comey, himself an admitted leaker through the unsavory artifice of having “a close friend” do it for him.   The stage could not be better set for Trump to deliver a barrage of delegitimizing strikes against Mueller.

Mueller is wounded, perhaps fatally.   Every new leak from his office or the FBI published by the Washington Post and New York Times (celebrated nightly as “scoops” by my hero Rachel Maddow) will be another dagger plunged into Mueller, like the collapsing Donald Trump “Caesar” in New York’s “Shakespeare in the Park”.  With Mueller increasingly delegitimized, any findings he makes against Trump will be tainted and ultimately ineffectual.  In self-defense, Mueller’s office announced: “The Special Counsel’s Office has undertaken stringent controls to prohibit unauthorized disclosures and will deal severely with any member who engages in this conduct.” See, The Hill, June 16, 2017, https://goo.gl/FMjgRb.  Too late.

Fox: the big story is the leaks, not the Russians.

Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein recently vowed to Senators that while he won’t let Trump coopt him, he will remove Mueller “for cause” if need be.  Mueller’s failure to stop leaks from his own office is enough cause, but Trump is better served by keeping the wounded special prosecutor in an ever more delegitimized state.  Rosenstein has advanced that cause with the following warning published on the DOJ’s official website:

“Americans should exercise caution before accepting as true any stories attributed to anonymous ‘officials,’ particularly when they do not identify the country – let alone the branch or agency of government – with which the alleged sources supposedly are affiliated. Americans should be skeptical about anonymous allegations.”

See, “Statement by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein on Anonymous Allegations”, June 15, 2017, https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/statement-deputy-attorney-general-rod-rosenstein-anonymous-allegations.  In the meantime, Mueller’s good reputation is sinking in the quicksand of unauthorized disclosures, as the Washington Post celebrates with churlish headlines like “Thanks for Confirming the Obstruction Investigation, Mr. President”, WaPo, June 15, 2017, https://goo.gl/LStjEA. 

A wounded Mueller seems ill-equipped to do battle with Trump. See, “Mueller, Known for Being Above the Fray, Is Now in the Thick of It”, NYT, June 15, 2017, https://t.co/gdIEzkgDqZ.  

But it’s not just Trump Mueller faces, but a well-coordinated assault from “Trump’s legal team, the Republican National Committee, conservative heavyweights and right-wing media”.  See, “Trump Allies on the Offensive Against Mueller”, The Hill, June 16, 2017 https://goo.gl/FMjgRb. The push is not for Trump to fire Mueller, but to demand he resign.  In a disturbingly persuasive opinion piece, Fox News’ Gregg Jarrett, the 62 year old lawyer and former MSNBC anchor, argues:

The special counsel statute specifically prohibits Mueller from serving if he has “a personal relationship with any person substantially involved in the investigation or prosecution.” ... Comey is substantially involved in the case [and] is the central witness. The two men and former colleagues have long been friends, allies and partners. ... The likelihood of prejudice and favoritism is glaring and severe.

See, “Trump Should Demand Mueller Quit as Special Counsel”, June 15, 2017 https://goo.gl/M6cc54.

The “witch hunt” is on, but the prey is not Donald Trump.  It is Robert Mueller.