Trump slipped off message. "There was no collusion," Trump has been saying. But he would collude if he had the chance.
Oops.
Trump, with help from Attorney General Barr, had their story straight: Trump got a total exoneration from the Mueller report. No collusion. The Russians wanted to help him, but he didn't get their help.
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| Click: ABC Report with video |
President Trump could jettison Michael Cohen or Fred Manafort, but not Don Junior, and especially not since there was evidence Donald Senior had helped Don Junior with a coverup about the actual subject of that meeting, having helped to write the "baby adoption" story.
Solution: minimize. Don Junior took the meeting, yes, but it was brief and came to nothing. Trump at a contemporaneous speech alludes to the information he expected from the meeting, but maybe he was just guessing, and he wasn't stuck with any written documentation to the contrary. Donald Junior took the Fifth, so there was a lack of evidence of a crime.
Since the collusion came to nothing, there was no harm. No harm, no foul. If there was no underlying foul, then the effort to obstruct the investigation was--arguably--not a foul either. It was like multiplying by zero: the product is still zero.
Since the collusion came to nothing, there was no harm. No harm, no foul. If there was no underlying foul, then the effort to obstruct the investigation was--arguably--not a foul either. It was like multiplying by zero: the product is still zero.
Then Donald Trump Senior spoke with George Stephanopolis. Trump was the unguarded, conversational, unfiltered Trump.
You get opposition research from foreigners, Stephanopolis asked?
Sure, everybody does it, anyone would, Trump said. And if the FBI says to the contrary, they are wrong. Trump was Trump. Decisive.
It was an easy mistake for Trump. After all, Trump's brand is to be the scrapper, the guy who knows how to win, the cynical, smart wheeler-dealer. He isn't a "good sport" who plays by the rules of diplomats and nice guys. He is a winner and plays hard ball. That is what people like about him.
Getting campaign help from Russians is a felony, prima facia a "high crime" for impeachment purposes. He was admitting he would do it, justifying it, happily, casually, willingly. It makes more plausible the charges against past "collusion" with Russians, and it puts him on video record as a scofflaw.
Trump is acting quickly to fix this with a two part repair strategy.
Part one is for Trump and his media allies to say that what Trump said isn't really what he said. In fact, of course Trump would go to the FBI if he were approached by foreigners. Re-interpret what you think you saw. Today Trump dismisses Stephanopolis as a "little wise guy." Rick Santorum says not to pay actual attention to what Trump said, that he was just using "filler words."
Matt Gaetz, a GOP congressman on Fox, says that Trump was intentionally "triggering" the media, suckering them into talking about investigations because Trump understands the public is sick of them. It's a ploy by Trump.
Part two is to attack. Trump is on Fox, indignant. Angry. Accusatory. I am the good guy, the victim, he says. Hillary Clinton is the one who colluded with the Russians. The FBI spied on him, the FBI wanted "an insurance policy" against a Trump presidency. The FBI is the deep state. George Soros! The left! The DNC! They were out to do a coup against the government. Hillary is the one who wants foreign help. Hypocrisy! Look at Hillary. Investigate Hillary.
Distract. Change the subject.
Will it work?
It wil work where it needs to work, within the Republican base that supports Trump with an 85-90% majority. Republicans do not want to believe--and do not believe--Trump illegally worked with Russians or that he would do so. They do believe Hillary is corrupt.
You get opposition research from foreigners, Stephanopolis asked?
Sure, everybody does it, anyone would, Trump said. And if the FBI says to the contrary, they are wrong. Trump was Trump. Decisive.
It was an easy mistake for Trump. After all, Trump's brand is to be the scrapper, the guy who knows how to win, the cynical, smart wheeler-dealer. He isn't a "good sport" who plays by the rules of diplomats and nice guys. He is a winner and plays hard ball. That is what people like about him.
Getting campaign help from Russians is a felony, prima facia a "high crime" for impeachment purposes. He was admitting he would do it, justifying it, happily, casually, willingly. It makes more plausible the charges against past "collusion" with Russians, and it puts him on video record as a scofflaw.
Trump is acting quickly to fix this with a two part repair strategy.
Part one is for Trump and his media allies to say that what Trump said isn't really what he said. In fact, of course Trump would go to the FBI if he were approached by foreigners. Re-interpret what you think you saw. Today Trump dismisses Stephanopolis as a "little wise guy." Rick Santorum says not to pay actual attention to what Trump said, that he was just using "filler words."
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| Click here |
Part two is to attack. Trump is on Fox, indignant. Angry. Accusatory. I am the good guy, the victim, he says. Hillary Clinton is the one who colluded with the Russians. The FBI spied on him, the FBI wanted "an insurance policy" against a Trump presidency. The FBI is the deep state. George Soros! The left! The DNC! They were out to do a coup against the government. Hillary is the one who wants foreign help. Hypocrisy! Look at Hillary. Investigate Hillary.
Distract. Change the subject.
Will it work?
2 comments:
Hillary took a $145 million bribe from the Russians, and then she sold them 20% of America's uranium to them. Hillary reeks of corruption.
Joe Biden and his son Hunter took a $1.5 billion bribe from China, and then Joe Biden altered U.S. foreign policy towards China because of the bribe.
These are factual events. Look them up.
If the Russians were to approach Peter Sage during the next election with "dirt" on the leading republican candidate, you can bet your bottom dollar that Peter Sage would accept that "dirt", and be sure to pass it on to the next political operative, and the media.
Peter Sage constantly rails at Trump, yet both Hillary and Biden have a recent history of massive corruption. Why are democrats calling republicans corrupt, when their leaders are guilty of the very same crimes? This is the pot calling the kettle black.
Look in the mirror, folks. Your leading candidate for president has been bought by the Chinese government. You've been sold down the river by Biden.
The subtext of all this is that truth is under attack and our free press is working overtime to reveal what is real and what is false to the American people. Thankfully, there are many rewards for those who spend their lives digging into the activities of those in power, especially those abusing it. (Google "Elaine Chao, asphalt")
Unfortunately, liars are working overtime also. They take advantage of complex events, exaggerate uncertainties, and obfuscate facts. One small example:
Fusion GPS is the opposition research firm hired originally by Republicans to research Trump, and who fired them when he became the nominee. It was then that Fusion approached the Democrats, not the other way around as is portrayed by detractors. This information is easy to find, if one takes a few minutes to research.
Perhaps a distinction without a difference, but when basic facts become disputed, debate becomes impossible.
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