Donald Trump has previously used Twitter to attack the Russia investigation, Special Counsel Robert Mueller, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, Attorney General Jeff Sessions and former FBI Director James Comey. But on Tuesday morning, he seemed to be moving toward the final stages of Justice-is-what-I-say-it-is autocracy.
Trump has built his case for this sweeping move on the basis of statements from his legal team. Not that legal team. The other one.
John Dowd took a hike. Ty Cobb occupies space. Michael Cohen … is on notice. But as Tuesday morning’s tweets demonstrate, Donald Trump’s real defense is none of the above.
In March, Trump talked with Digenova about being part of his official legal team. Word at the time was that Trump found the in-person Digenova lacked the simulated gold-plate “class” he looks for in his lawyers. Or maybe he has the wrong sort of facial hair. But since Trump sent Digenova back to Fox, it’s clear that his more vital legal team, the ones actually doing the job of shoring up Trump’s support and providing his base with appropriate talking points, is the legal firm of Fox & Friends.
After all, Trump isn’t expecting to face indictment before a court, no matter what Special Counsel Robert Mueller finds. The far more likely scenario would be that the DOJ sends the results to Congress, where Trump’s fate is in the hands of the majority. He doesn’t have to face a trial. Just the accolades of Devin Nunes and the freshly washed hands of Paul Ryan.
Rather than wait for the investigation to play out, Trump may well believe he’s better off simply crushing the investigation and moving on. Republicans have repeatedly demonstrated that they’re unwilling to protect Mueller. The Nunes-Meadows Russian friendship circle is actively attempting to impeach Rosenstein. Ryan has green-lighted every move to weaken the investigation and protect Trump.
Trump has laid out his case simply enough. He has important work to do. The investigation is “a hoax.” And he has the right to fire anyone.
He is signaling his willingness to act on that “right.” Trump thinks that everything that appears to go well is simply more fuel for his authority. At the moment he’s charged up by Korea. If the stock market was still high, Mueller would likely already be gone.
And he has his legal team to spread the propaganda that backs his play.
