Yesterday was quite the day, wasn’t it? The centerpiece to the day of course was the report of Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller empaneling a grand jury to investigate the Trump-Russia issue. I wrote a diary that attempted to provide context to a couple of issues that might not be readily apparent in all of the noise surrounding the announcement. But like so much involving the Manhattan Man Child, events have a way of needing occasional updating. This is one of those times.
In the original diary, I noted that there would be no sense in starting a new grand jury to deal with Michael Flynn or Paul Manafort since there were already active grand jury probes in Virginia for them that Mueller had taken over as a part of his investigation. But in terms of the grand juries, just like in real estate, it all comes down to three things, location, location, location.
MSNBC contributor, a former DOJ spokesperson put it in perfect context last night in a way even I could understand. While a grand jury can be convened anywhere, the standard rule is for it to be empaneled in the venue where the possible offenses under investigation occurred. Please reread the last sentence, because it is the linchpin on which what follows next is moored to.
What happened in Washington DC in the last year? How about Donald Trump taking FBI Director Jim Comey to dinner to ask him to shut down the investigation of Flynn? How about Trump calling Mike Rogers and Jim Clapper to ask them to intervene with the FBI in the Russia investigation? How about Trump telling Kislyak and Lavrov that he had shitcanned Comey to take the heat off of the Russia investigation? How about Jared Kushner speaking to Kislyak about setting up a secret back channel for him to communicate with the Kremlin from the Russian embassy? And that’s just for starters.
This investigation would now appear to have moved substantially from looking for collusion during the campaign to evidence of Russian contacts or collusion since the inauguration, or evidence of obstruction of justice. I’m sure that the investigation into the campaign itself will continue, but if they were primarily looking at events during the campaign, a grand jury would most likely be empaneled in New York, where the Trump campaign was located.
This explanation from Matt Miller makes perfect sense. And it also puts both Mike Flynn and Jared Kushner, as well as the Cheeto Prophet himself squarely in the spotlight. Flynn because his phone calls to Kislyak alone to chill on the Obama sanctions cuz Da Boss would make it all better put him dead center again. So does any consulting he did for the Turkish government in DC without registering as an Agent of a foreign government. Kushner and Kislyak are joined by his blatant omissions on his security clearance forms. And Trump? Flip to any calendar date in the last 7 months, pick up a newspaper from that day, and pick an action at random.
There are four words from a common meme that fit His Lowness perfectly right now, “Shit just got real”. It was one thing when the investigation was just a pain in the ass distraction, focusing on staffers, cutouts and advisors he could disavow with a “I hardly ever even hearda da guy”. But now it is clear, the focus is even more tightly on his direct family and himself. The time for dicking around is over.
Fortunately, as far as Trump himself is concerned, Mueller could almost call that one in. Nick Akerman, a former Watergate special prosecutor told Chris Matthews last night that Trump had already convicted himself twice on obstruction of justice. Once when he told Lavrov and Kislyak that he had taken the investigative pressure off by firing Comey. And he did it again, telling Lester Holt in a nationally broadcast interview that he had fired Comey to shut down the Russia investigation, since it was a “hoax”. Twice from his own mouth he provided Mueller with ironclad “criminal intent” to stop the investigation to save himself.
And so, one by one the puzzle pieces start to fall into their proper places. If what Matt Miller said is true, there can no longer be any doubt. While the investigation into campaign misbehavior will certainly continue, Trump can no longer deny the obvious. Mueller is looking directly at him and his family, and he has the manpower and financial ability to make a thorough job of it. He will get the bank statements, and he will get Trump’s tax records. And it certainly seems to me that if he fires Mueller, then congress will create an independent prosecutor spot for outside of Trump’s interference range, and will likely put Mueller right back at the head of it. To repeat, shit just got real. Don’t touch that dial.