Donald Trump and his aides have repeatedly hailed Trump's direct line of communication to his acolytes through Twitter and campaign rallies as revolutionary. But one look through the list of leaked questions Robert Mueller has for Trump in the Russia probe gives us another way to frame his ceaseless blathering: sheer stupidity.
Of the 49 broadly framed queries on Mueller's list, a solid 17 of them can be chalked up to completely unforced errors—specifically emanating from Trump's tweets or other public utterances that undoubtedly increased his liability for being accused of obstructing justice or colluding with a foreign power. Additionally, the area of obstruction itself accounts for more than half of Mueller's questions overall. In other words, Trump fueled an obstruction inquiry through his public on-the-record statements that triggered more investigating and ultimately turned up more evidence of obstruction, which now accounts for the bulk of Mueller's inquiries. And on the question of conspiracy/collusion, Trump offered up some public doozies on the campaign trail that underlie a handful of questions from Mueller.
Bottom line: Trump has spent the last couple of years pointing a gatling gun of explosive comments at his feet and cranking out the rounds. Everyone seemed to know all those unrestrained misfires would come back to haunt him—everyone except Trump. Yet he just keeps firing away, like with his tweets this morning or the fateful Fox pajama phoner last week. There’s no end in sight.
Arguably, nearly everything that's happened in Trump's White House regarding Russia could be categorized as an “unforced error”—such as asking former FBI director James Comey to just let the Flynn thing go. But for our purposes, let's stick to the undeniably stupid public statements that Trump spits out like he's plagued with a verbal tic.
What follows are some broad categories, with the specific questions that were leaked to the New York Times underneath.
The Comey Obstruction Comeuppance: Remember when Trump told Lester Holt he fired Comey because of "this Russia thing"?
1. Regarding the decision to fire Mr. Comey: When was it made? Why? Who played a role?
2. What was the purpose of your May 12, 2017, tweet? (Trump tweeted Comey "better hope that there are no 'tapes.'")
3. What did you mean in your interview with Lester Holt about Mr. Comey and Russia?
4. What did you mean when you told Russian diplomats on May 10, 2017, that firing Mr. Comey had taken the pressure off? (Technically, Trump didn’t state this publicly. But I think spilling this type of information to operatives of a foreign adversary whom you invited into the Oval Office qualifies as an unforced error—which is why it ended up in the public realm.)
5. What did you think about Mr. Comey’s June 8, 2017, testimony regarding Mr. Flynn, and what did you do about it? (Trump called Comey a liar afterward.)
6. What was the purpose of the September and October 2017 statements, including tweets, regarding an investigation of Mr. Comey? (Trump tweeted that Comey should be investigating for rigging the Clinton inquiry, suggesting DOJ was merely there to do his personal bidding.)
7. What is the reason for your continued criticism of Mr. Comey and his former deputy, Andrew G. McCabe?
The Sessions Obstruction Saga: Trump has routinely lampooned Sessions publicly while pushing him to open investigations into Comey, McCabe, and Clinton.
8. What did you think and do regarding the recusal of Mr. Sessions?
9. Did you discuss whether Mr. Sessions would protect you, and reference past attorneys general? (Trump has talked publicly about AG Eric Holder protecting President Obama in his view: “And I have great respect for that.”
10. What did you think and what did you do in reaction to the news of the appointment of the special counsel? (How many times has Trump tweeted "witch hunt!"?)
11.What discussions did you have regarding terminating the special counsel, and what did you do when that consideration was reported in January 2018? ("Fake news, folks. Fake news. Typical New York Times fake stories," Trump told reporters.)
12. What was the purpose of your July 2017 criticism of Mr. Sessions? (Trump tweeted: "Attorney General Jeff Sessions has taken a VERY weak position on Hillary Clinton crimes (where are E-mails & DNC server) & Intel leakers!")
The Trump Tower Obstruction Trip Up
13. What involvement did you have in the communication strategy, including the release of Donald Trump Jr.’s emails? (Trump reportedly drafted the public statement for the Times that turned out to be a lie.)
The "Russia, if you're listening ..." Collusion Section
14. What discussions did you have during the campaign regarding any meeting with Mr. Putin? Did you discuss it with others? (Trump constantly praised Putin, saying things like he’s "a strong leader" unlike Obama.)
15. What discussions did you have during the campaign regarding Russian sanctions?
16. During the campaign, what did you know about Russian hacking, use of social media or other acts aimed at the campaign? (Trump during the campaign: "I am going to give a major speech on probably Monday of next week and we're going to be discussing all of the things that have taken place with the Clintons.")
17. What did you know about communication between Roger Stone, his associates, Julian Assange or WikiLeaks? (Trump: "WikiLeaks, I love WikiLeaks.")