Come one, come all and witness the greatest political spectacle since Watergate. That's right, an all out brawl between the old school, and the new crew. In one corner, a billionaire superstar who plays by his own rules, your current President of the great United States, Donald J Trump. In our other corner, a previous director of the FBI and a man hell bent on seeing justice reign supreme. Head of the special council investigating Trump, Robert Mueller. Will it be the tried and true, the old way, that comes out on top? Or will the new kid in town drain the swamp and his rivals chances at victory? It's a fifteen round smack down where anything can happen, so let's get this rumble rolling.
So maybe the last year of investigations into Donald Trumps campaign colluding with the Russian's to interfere in our election wasn't as flashy as a top billed bout in the ring, but it sure hasn't been devoid of the hard hits and staggering punches we love to see. With recent news about a potential Mueller charge coming out and some changing rhetoric in the media now seems as good a time as any to really dig in to this beast of a conflict. Over the next few paragraphs we're going to get into the investigation itself and make our decision on if we believe there is really any meat to these accusations, or if it's all just smoke and mirrors.
For those living under a rock, the sun is a wonderful thing and you should try it sometime. That aside, you also probably don't know about this investigation. After evidence came to light of potential meddling in the 2016 election from Russian sources accusations began to fly that Donald Trump had worked with the Russians to influence the election and sway the votes to guarantee his victory. What started as a federal investigation was quickly turned over to Robert Mueller after cries that the investigation should be independent of the justice department which had been newly rebuilt by Trump himself. Over the year following the start of this investigation many people within the Trump campaign were questioned and four of those people, (Paul Manafort, Richard Gates, Michael Flynn, and George Papadopoulos) were charged. Most notable of those charged is Paul Manafort who as at one point Trump's campaign chairman. That should bring you up to speed.
Now here we are, 2018, and there seems to be some chatter of a potential charge coming down against the president himself. Collusion? No. The rumors seem to suggest that Mueller will be charging Trump with obstruction of justice for firing James Comey at the onset of this investigation. There are also rumors that Trump did at one point call for Mueller to be fired, and only backed down after the White House counsel threatened to resign instead of carry out the firing. All of this has led to some very juicy media cycles that seem to want to point the finger at everyone from Donald Trump to Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. So where do we start? and furthermore, where do we go when we get there.
Let's start with the potential charges, and those being investigated, against Trump. Collusion with the Russians to influence the 2016 election and obstruction of justice are the two big charges making the rounds in the news right now. Looking at the facts presented one of those is much more likely to stick than the other. The one I doubt actually comes to fruition? Collusion. We know that at least one member of Trump's campaign met with the Russians, and we know that that individual has been charged. Michael Flynn did meet with a Russian ambassador about potentially lifting sanctions on Russia Roughly 2 weeks before Donald Trump was to be inaugurated. He was also relieved of duty in mid February of 2017 after it came to light that he had lied to the FBI and Vice President Pence about said meeting. If Trump and Pence are to be believed, and we live in an innocent until proven guilty nation, then it is fair to say that Trump was unaware of the meeting with the Russian ambassador.
We also know that Papadopoulos was charged with making false statements to the FBI about his dealings with the Russians as well. George, who was a member of Trump's foreign policy advisor team, met with a connection in Europe by the name of Josef Mifsud, in order to receive "dirt" on the Clinton campaign. Yes, George had dealings with the Russians, but all of it was communicated through Manafort. It is just as likely that Manafort used his position to manipulate foreign interests as it is that Trump was actually aware of and behind these dealings.
Obstruction however, that is one much more likely to stick. While I do believe Trump innocent of the collusion charges it is clear now that not everyone in his campaign is as well. In my opinion, after seeing that friends and close colleagues of his were guilty and would be charged Trump sought to use his power to protect them. We know he isn't a career politician and we know he's used to having power that grants influence. How could he use his power to protect his friends? By firing James Comey of course. Comey was easily the biggest opponent in the way of Trump after the election and posed the biggest threat to his "perfect" cabinet. By removing Comey Trump set the investigation back considerably and allowed his friends to begin to build legal walls that they could use to cushion whatever punishments eventually came out. Couple this with the fact that we know Trump wanted to fire Mueller and it's clear that something inside Trump's group needs protecting.
Looking at recent changes in the talking points leads me to believe that Trump can sense a charge is coming and is attempting to deflect and discredit in any way he can. While attending the World Economic Forum in Davos Trump took his chance to talk not of economics and how to better the world, but instead to attack the "fake news" for being dishonest and lying to the American people. Fox News has attempted to discredit the report of Trump calling for Mueller to be fired as fake because it was published by the New York Times. Hell, even Devin Nunes has drafted a memo accusing the FBI of political bias and misdeeds. Instead of focusing on what matters, like that tax cut the Republicans passed and the health care changes they still have yet to make reality, all they can do now is go full on attack mode against anything and everything that dares say there may have been foul play. Shoot, If I were any bigger they'd probably attack me for being fake news. What does that sound like to you? An administration that knows it's innocent? Or does it sound more like a cornered animal using it's last desperate attacks to claw its way out and survive?
In the end I think it's rather clear that Trump had something to hide and did whatever necessary to hide it. I do hope Mueller either confirms my suspicions or proves me wrong soon. My final guess is obstruction of justice charges against Trump.
What do you think? Is he guilty? Is he innocent? Is Mueller just a puppet of the Democrats? Let me know what you think and be sure to follow me over on Twitter for more political discourse and other silly fun. Next time we talk, assuming no big bombshells drop, I'd love to look into the other side of this investigation and talk Hillary Clinton. I'm not so sure she's as innocent as people believe and I want to thoroughly cover both sides of this. Thank you for reading and I look forward to catching up with you all again next week. Good Night.
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