WaPo:
Trump advisers lied over and over again, Mueller says. The question is, why?
While Mueller has not accused any American of criminally coordinating with Russia, the lies meticulously unspooled by his prosecutors over 20 months have not been mere quibbles.
They have documented various falsehoods by Trump advisers that masked efforts by people in his orbit to develop inroads with Russia and leverage that country’s hacking of Democratic emails.
The remaining question — for both Mueller’s team, as it works on a final investigative report, and for the American people — is why.
Did the president’s men lie to protect a still-hidden dark secret about the campaign’s interaction with Russia, engaging in a broad effort to obstruct the probe — one that included perhaps even Trump?
Did they lie to avoid diminishing Trump’s victory by acknowledging Russia played a role in his election?
Oopsies, looks like Fox isn’t all in on President Individual-1:
The headlines awaiting the president this weekend:
NY Times:
A Bruised Trump Faces Uncertain 2020 Prospects. His Team Fears a Primary Fight.
David Winston, a Republican pollster, said the burden was now on Mr. Trump to restore his stature as a leader by forging some kind of border-security deal with Democrats, and to deliver a stronger message on the economy.
“Leadership means results,” Mr. Winston said. “When you have a shutdown, people look at it, basically, as: the political system has failed.
WaPo:
‘Pelosi does not mess around’: Democratic speaker emerges triumphant from shutdown
One tweet also underscored Pelosi’s ability to unify her diverse caucus, from moderates in Trump districts to the party’s far left.
“I will tell you something most of the country probably already knows: @SpeakerPelosi does not mess around,” wrote freshman Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), a dominant voice in the party’s liberal wing.
Said Pelosi on Friday: “Our unity is our power, and that is what, maybe, the president underestimated.”
A CBS News poll released this week pegged Pelosi’s approval number at 39 percent, a figure higher than Trump’s and McConnell’s — and appreciably higher than seen during last year’s midterm campaign, when Republicans spent tens of millions of dollars on ads attacking Pelosi as a symbol of dysfunctional governance. Fourteen percent of Republicans surveyed said Pelosi had outnegotiated Trump during the shutdown, vs. 6 percent of Democrats who saw Trump outmaneuvering Pelosi.
Speaking of polls:
NBC:
Just 39 percent approve of Trump’s handling of immigration and border security, compared with 51 percent who approve of his handling of the economy.
And by a 44 percent-to-35 percent margin, respondents believe that the people who want to immigrate to America by coming to the U.S.-Mexico border strengthen the country’s values and character, versus 35 percent who think they weaken those things.
Impeachment, however, is not ripe yet.
ABC/WaPo:
The American people have mixed feelings about investigating President Trump, with clear majorities wanting newly empowered Democrats to dig into his personal finances and foreign ties but most believing that Congress should not begin impeachment proceedings, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.
The public’s cautiousness extends to its expectations for the forthcoming report from special counsel Robert S. Mueller III, who has been examining ties between Russia and Trump’s 2016 campaign.
Half of Americans report they have “just some” confidence or none at all that the Mueller report will be fair and evenhanded, and 43 percent say they have at least a good amount of confidence in its fairness.
This means we still have work to do, and the American public is still not really tuning in to this, yet.
Carlos Lozado/WaPo:
WHAT IT WOULD TAKE
Can impeachment appear legitimate in a hyper-partisan universe?
Is the least-trusted institution in America — rated lower than big banks, the news media and the presidency itself — ready to investigate and try a president in a way that conveys legitimacy and inspires broad confidence? And could the American public, already so divided and cynical, regard whatever outcome emerges from that process as nonpartisan and fair?
These questions loom over the numerous guides and retrospectives on presidential impeachment — authored by historians, law professors, journalists and assorted commentators — that have appeared in the two years since Trump swore the oath of office. (For some reason, many publishers imagined that a refresher might come in handy.) Partisanship, they contend, poisons impeachment, both the process and its legacy. This is the paradox: When a demagogic or authoritarian leader comes to power by stoking cultural division and partisan hatreds, the need for impeachment grows, but so does the difficulty of seeing it through.
David Frum/Atlantic:
Roger Stone’s Arrest Is the Signal for Congress to Act
Robert Mueller is looking for crimes. It’s up to legislators to safeguard the country.
The truth about these things is presumably known to Mueller and his team. To the extent that this truth is prosecutable, Americans will eventually learn more of it through further indictments and—if the next attorney general allows it to be released—a future Mueller report. Perhaps that will happen this year, or maybe next.
But now—now!—the country is in danger. Now—now!—it is headed by a president whose fundamental loyalty to the United States cannot intelligently be trusted. Waiting for Mueller has always been a slow option. That slowness more and more appears a danger that the country cannot safely risk.
It’s time for Congress to step in, not with a view to punishing the guilty, but with a view to protecting the security of the nation from the guilty, whether they are ever juridically punished or not.
