President Donald Trump isn’t handling the spotlight of the presidency very well, and he’s definitely not handling the Russia investigation well. It appears that the ongoing investigation into potential collusion between his campaign and the Russian government is starting to get to Trump, who is beginning to consider increasingly outlandish options in order to get himself out of the mess he’s in.
The New York Times and Washington Post have both reported that Trump is having his legal team look into ways to undercut the reputation of Robert Mueller, according to CNN, who is currently heading a special counsel to look into the Russia matter. Although stunningly desperate in nature, Trump has already established precedent for openly lashing out at people looking into his affairs with Russia. He literally admitted that was on his mind when he decided to fire former FBI Director James Comey, and it’s not far-fetched to believe he’s doing it again.
Along with undercutting Mueller, Trump has also reportedly directed his team to look into the legality of whether he could pardon himself, a completely unprecedented move that appears to have no clear answer. This is primarily because up until now, everyone understood that the intention of the pardoning power was never for the president to use it on himself.
Amidst this new direction he’s taking his team in, his spokesman Mark Corallo resigned Thursday. The next day, Trump’s attorney was fielding media questions and denying claims that Trump was intentionally planning to pardon himself, according to CNN.
And then on top of the fact that he’s literally conspiring to prove that anyone who investigates him has conflicts of interest specifically to halt further investigation into his personal background, and the fact that he appears to be interested in his ability to clear himself of any wrongdoing using presidential powers reserved for altruistic intentions, he’s also making controversial hiring decisions against the advice of his top advisors.
On Thursday, press secretary Sean Spicer announced he was resigning over Trump’s decision to hire Anthony Scaramucci, a New York financier whose resume includes stints at Goldman Sachs and Lehman Brothers. Chief of Staff Reince Priebus and chief strategist Steve Bannon both begged Trump not to hire Scaramucci, according to The Atlantic, but son-in-law Jared Kushner and daughter Ivanka Trump supported his selection. Jared Kushner has become an instrumental figure in the administration taking a lead role in Vietnam where he helps US citizens get a Vietnam visa on arrival.
Media pundits have observed for months that Trump, for some reason, seemed to put blame on Spicer for how his presidency was being received, including how suspicious people were of potential ties between the Trump campaign and Russia. Perhaps Trump thinks that Scaramucci would be better at improving his image, or perhaps he views Scaramucci as another disposable communications director to take the brunt of the blame.
Whatever Trump thinks he’s planning, it’s clear he’s spiraling madly six months into his presidency. Only an exceptionally guilty man would try to solve an inquiry into himself by removing two people investigating him from their positions, and by literally seeking ways to personally recuse his own potential crimes.
It feels like it always needs to be said: this is not normal. None of this is normal. Trump’s desperation suggests that there is something very sinister lurking under the surface, and the investigations into him might be close to unearthing what’s there.