The continuing #TrumpRussia saga doesn’t seem very much like an exoneration will be forthcoming, since evidence trumps disinformation, and obstruction of justice seems ever more solid.
Like Greeks bearing gifts, the Priebus notes, like Comey’s, are perhaps McGuffins or even red herrings since Agent Orange seems even more confused about whether Mark Corallo resigned in July because of his concerns over justice obstruction, per the Michael Wolff book — Jarvanka claims Corallo was fired. And more interesting is Corallo’s working for Marc Kasowitz, Trump's personal attorney.
So far, Corallo’s message has diverged from that of many Trump allies who have criticized Mueller in an effort to undermine his investigation. Corallo praised the former FBI director for his honor and integrity just two days before he became Kasowitz’s spokesman, saying specifically that Mueller’s investigation would not expand beyond his original portfolio.
“If he finds nothing, he will stand up there and say there is nothing,” Corallo said. “This is not a guy who wants mission creep.”
“I don’t know if there is a finer human being than Bob Mueller,” he said, describing him as “the brother you want — the dad you want — he’s the guy you want your daughter to marry.”
He added in a later interview: “You’ll never hear me say a bad thing about Bob Mueller.”
www.politico.com/...
"Mark Corallo was instructed not to speak to the press, indeed not to even answer his phone. Later that week, Corallo, seeing no good outcome-and privately confiding that he believed the meeting on Air Force One represented a likely obstruction of justice-quit. (The Jarvanka side would put it out that Corallo was fired.)"
Mr. Trump spent the next weekend at his country club in Bedminster, N.J., where he watched a recording of Mr. Comey’s testimony, stewed about the F.B.I. director and discussed the possibility of dismissing him with his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and his senior policy adviser, Stephen Miller. He had decided he would fire Mr. Comey, and asked Mr. Miller to help put together a letter the president intended to send to Mr. Comey.
In interviews with The Times, White House officials have said the letter contained no references to Russia or the F.B.I.’s investigation. According to two people who have read it, however, the letter’s first sentence said the Russia investigation had been “fabricated and politically motivated.”
On Monday, May 8, Mr. Trump met with Mr. Sessions and Mr. Rosenstein to discuss firing Mr. Comey, and Mr. Rosenstein agreed to write his own memo outlining why Mr. Comey should be fired.
Before writing it, he took a copy of the letter that Mr. Trump and Mr. Miller had drafted during the weekend in Bedminster.
The president fired Mr. Comey the following day.
www.nytimes.com/...
Donald Trump ordered top White House lawyer Don McGahn to stop Attorney General Jeff Sessions from recusing himself in the Justice Department’s ongoing investigation into potential coordination between the Trump campaign and Russia, according to an explosive new report that reveals the lengths to which Trump went to obstruct the probe.
McGahn carried out Trump’s orders and attempted, unsuccessfully, to convince Sessions not to recuse himself from the probe, The New York Times reported Thursday night.
When McGahn’s efforts failed, Trump was so furious that he “erupted in anger in front of numerous White House officials, saying he needed his attorney general to protect him,” according to the Times.
Sessions’ recusal from the probe resulted in the appointment of special counsel Robert Mueller, who is now leading the Russia investigation.
shareblue.com/...
The president has once again proven to be his own worst enemy in the growing obstruction of justice case being assembled by Mueller's team. The omnibus obstruction of justice statute is only violated by a person who "corruptly ... endeavors to influence, obstruct, or impede, the due administration of justice."
By allegedly pushing former FBI Director James Comey to end the Russia investigation, by subsequently firing Comey and by allegedly pushing intelligence chiefs to influence the Russia investigation, the president has engaged in a pattern of behavior that could lead to an inference that he acted "corruptly."
thehill.com/...