After the firing of former Deputy Director of the FBI Andrew McCabe, it became clear that Trump and his legal team — or perhaps it’s all in Trump’s head — have a new strategy for wriggling out from under the gaze of the special counsel investigation being headed up by Robert Mueller.
Just as they did with the FBI previously — as they have done with anyone who has questioned them — like sleazy lawyers questioning how much a woman had to drink on the night she was assaulted, they plan to attack the character of those going after them.
And despite the fact that Mueller has been a registered Republican his entire life, is a decorated war hero, and was the longest-serving director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation since J. Edgar Hoover, Trump thinks he can get away with character assassination on him. Unfortunately, if Stephanie Ruhle’s guest on MSNBC Monday morning, Republican strategist Rick Tyler, is correct, Trump may just do it and get away with it:
But even more disturbingly, Rick wasn’t the only one on the morning shows on Monday singing this song.
Over on CNN, their Senior Political Analyst Mark Preston thought largely the same thing, although he perhaps didn’t sound as loud an alarm about Republicans doing nothing in response:
Both analysts concluded that not only would Republicans be reticent to go after Trump when so many of them have already been complicit this long, but that Trump’s supporters would be the easiest of all to convince that firing Mueller was both logical and ethical, despite the fact that it is certainly neither of those things.
And to top it off, the Daily Beast is now reporting that Trump already has this plan underway: He fully intends to go after Mueller’s credibility the same way he’s gone after everyone else’s, and unfortunately, the only Republicans who have spoken or are speaking out against it are either gone from government or planning to retire.
As the Beast pointed out, Trump had never, prior to Saturday, so much as mentioned Robert Mueller by name on his Twitter feed — likely on the advice of his lawyers, who are certainly the ones behind the thin, constant refrain that Team Trump uses as its public face:
…the White House yet again confirms that the President is not considering or discussing the firing of the Special Counsel, Robert Mueller.”
But his behavior definitely says otherwise.
Featured image via Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
