We begin today’s roundup with The New York Times and its editorial on the indictments of former Trump campaign officials and the guilty plea of one of Trump’s former top foreign policy advisors, George Papadopoulos:
The guilty plea is the most direct evidence connecting the campaign to the Russian efforts to help elect Mr. Trump. After days of dishonesty, the White House acknowledged in July that Mr. Manafort and Mr. Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, had attended a meeting arranged by Donald Trump Jr. with Kremlin-connected intermediaries who said they had dirt on Mrs. Clinton. And the Trump adviser Roger Stone (recently kicked off Twitter for abusive and profane tweets) has acknowledged having contacts with WikiLeaks, which has been a conduit for Russian-hacked emails.
And yet the White House’s response Monday was essentially “George who?” Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the press secretary, called Mr. Papadopoulos a campaign “volunteer” who worked in an “extremely limited” role — a characterization that’s hard to square with the fact that Mr. Trump identified him, along with four other people, as a member of his foreign-policy team in March 2016. And then there were the numerous communications between Mr. Papadopoulos and top campaign officials about meeting with the Russians, including one encouraging Mr. Papadopoulos to “make the trip” to Moscow, “if it is feasible.”
Randall D. Eliason provides his legal insight:
We don’t know yet what other charges (if any) will be coming out of Mueller’s office. But Monday’s news in no way suggests the investigation is drawing to a close. The same grand jury may issue multiple indictments against multiple individuals, and could even return additional charges against Manafort and Gates. Future indictments and pleas, if any, likely will come on a rolling basis, as the prosecutors build cases against lower-level players, possibly persuade them to cooperate, and move up the ladder to higher-level targets.
Mueller’s investigation continues to proceed aggressively, methodically and relatively rapidly. These charges likely are simply the first salvo. Their echoes will reverberate loudly through the corridors of Washington in the days ahead.
Former deputy assistant attorney general Harry Litman explains why these latest developments send a clear signal to others in Trump’s orbit:
If any of the principals in the July 9 meeting lied to the F.B.I. about what transpired, they are in immediate criminal jeopardy for the same reasons for which Mr. Papadopoulos had to plead guilty. No doubt Mr. Kushner and Mr. Trump Jr. are huddling with their lawyers and wondering if they are next.
While Mr. Manafort and Mr. Gates are much bigger fish than Mr. Papadopoulos, his case may the more portentous one. He clearly has a wealth of information on the campaign and Mr. Trump’s inner circle. And much more important, he is already providing it.
John Nichols at The Nation:
But the Manafort-Pence connection was about more than just introducing Trump to a Republican stalwart the fixer had known for many years. Veteran Republican strategist John Weaver says, “Remember, Manafort selected the VP and was therefore the most important person on the campaign team.” [...]
But the Manafort-Pence connection ought not be underestimated. Indeed, when CNN reported in December that Manafort had“reemerged as a player in the fight to shape the new administration,” the network explained that “with Pence firmly entrenched in Trump’s inner circle…Manafort—who keeps a home in Trump Tower—has a direct line to top decision-makers.”
Dana Milbank:
By Trump’s new standard, “collusion” now covers not just Russia’s election interference but anything that has to do with Russia done by anybody at any time for any reason. If that’s the rule, there is indeed plenty of evidence that Clinton colluded with Russia. She has visited Russia often, spoken with Russians and even tried to reset relations with Russia. I’d bet she has also watched Russian ballet and read Russian novels.
But by that standard there’s also evidence most everybody else colludes with Russia, too. Therefore, the Mueller investigation will need to expand significantly. The following people should present themselves at the earliest opportunity to the special counsel’s office for interviews:
●All persons who now consume or in the past have consumed vodka. This includes but is not limited to Black Russians, White Russians and Moscow Mules.
Damon Linker at The Week:
The problem is that Republican efforts to defend the president (emanating from the White House, Congress, Fox News, and other right-wing media outlets) are designed to keep that from ever happening — not by putting forth a cogent, fact-based defense of the president, but by constructing an alternative reality in which any and all charges against him can be dismissed as a product of flagrant partisanship and corruption on the part of his political enemies. [...]
Republican politicians and freelance propaganda ministers feed the voters lies, the voters happily swallow them, and then the politicians shrug their shoulders, claiming to lack the public support to act against the lawless president. It's the kind of self-reinforcing political corruption that forms the basis for authoritarian governments around the world.
And it may be the only way President Trump can survive the maelstrom that now threatens to consume him.