Donald Trump is sure this Russia thing is going to blow over any minute.
That rosy picture has buoyed Trump's spirits in recent weeks, leaving him seemingly less frustrated and more even-keeled about the investigation even as Mueller's team landed a guilty plea and the cooperation of one of the President's former top advisers, retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn.
Donald Trump thinks the Justice Department is out to get him.
… Trump appeared to be contemplating changes in the Justice Department’s leadership. In recent discussions, two advisers said, Trump has called the attorney general “weak,” and complained that Rosenstein has shown insufficient accountability on the special counsel’s work. A senior official said Trump mocked Rosenstein’s recent testimony on Capitol Hill, saying he looked weak and unable to answer questions. Trump has ranted about Rosenstein as “a Democrat,” one of these advisers said, and characterized him as a threat to his presidency.
Rosenstein is a Republican, appointed by a Republican, and promoted by a Republican. Who appointed a Republican special counsel after Trump forced out a Republican FBI Director. But … sure. It’s a Democratic plot. Because the definition of Republican now is simply anyone who promotes Trump, and the definition of Democrat is … everyone else.
The latest salvos came over the weekend, when a top Republican senator said Mr. Mueller should examine his team’s political leanings, and a lawyer for Mr. Trump sent a letter to lawmakers saying that the special counsel had improperly gotten emails from the presidential transition team.
The evidence that those emails were obtained “improperly”? Please. Trump is not evidence-based.
The emails are one of those things that has Trump upset.
“Not looking good, it’s not looking good — it’s quite sad to see that, my people were very upset about it,” Mr. Trump said on Sunday when asked about the emails.
Only he’s not upset.
“I can’t imagine there’s anything on them, frankly, because, as we’ve said, there’s no collusion, no collusion whatsoever.”
So everyone stay calm. Because he’s just going to … explode.
If the Trump administration were a movie, we’d have arrived at a point in the film where the soundtrack rises to an ominous crescendo. The question is not so much whether Trump will erupt in rage but when, and where he will direct it.
But it’s definitely not going to be Mueller. Which is helped along by the fact that Trump can’t fire Mueller. However, what Trump can do …
It now seems at least as probable that the president will not lash out directly at Mueller, but instead attempt to seize control of his investigation indirectly by replacing Mueller’s supervisor, Rod Rosenstein.
Why all this back and forth? Trump’s a bully. And bluster, cower, bluster, cower, bluster is what bullies do. Plus, Trump is a conspiracy theorist who latches onto any crazy idea. He’s bound to be flipping over paintings in the White House, looking for those secret weather controls that InfoWars promised him. Put together the mentality of a third-grade playground terror with the credulity of a Bigfoot fan, and you end up with things like this:
The contradictions or shaky grasp of the law or facts has not mattered. As every loopy new theory has been debunked, a new one has emerged to take its place. They have all supported the continuing narrative in conservative media that the FBI is run by biased liberals carrying out an extralegal coup against Trump. It is working precisely as intended. The delegitimization of the FBI is “starting to win over mainstream conservatives,” a source close to the White House tells Mike Allen.
And when the Trump—Fox feedback hum has convinced “mainstream conservatives” (a group that is itself more mythical than the Loch Ness Monster) that federal law enforcement need not be obeyed … that’s sure to be a good thing. Especially considering this year’s record Black Friday sales of AR-15s.