Blog Credo

The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.

H.L. Mencken

Saturday, July 14, 2018

Which Hunt?

Yesterday's indictments from the Mueller team is yet another example of reality crashing into the obstinate denial of Trumpistan and all its minions.  Mueller confined his indictments to Russians because he seems to be trying to avoid indicting close associates of Trump.  Roger Stone is pretty sure he's an unnamed co-conspirator and the indictment mentions a "candidate for Congress" who reached out to the Russians. 

Mueller clearly has much, much more dirt on the close associates of Trump and Trump himself.  I can't imagine a scenario where Mueller doesn't know much of Trump and the Trump Organization's finances.  If he doesn't have concrete evidence of money laundering at this very moment, I would be shocked.  If he doesn't have concrete evidence of substantial connections between Russia and the Trump campaign, I would be shocked.

The question is: What is Mueller waiting for?  It could be that he is waiting until the case is airtight.  He could be waiting to flip someone like Roger Stone or Paul Manafort, which is not impossible, but also not likely to happen.  My guess is that he knows he is vulnerable to a self-destructive Trumpian tantrum.  Firing Mueller would - in normal times - prompt an impeachment hearing.  Given the utter cravenness of the Congressional GOP, this is unlikely to happen.  If Trump fires Mueller with the GOP controlling the House, he will not be held responsible for this catastrophic assault on the rule of law...unless it happens right before the election. 

Could Mueller be waiting to launch an October (or late September) surprise?

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