Special investigator Robert Mueller has just turned up the heat on the Trump-Russia collusion investigation. Could this be “the white smoke” we’ve been waiting for?
Politics
According to The Wall Street Journal, Mueller impaneled a grand jury in Washington late last week, signaling the investigation has entered a critical stage. The newspaper has concluded that by ordering a grand jury, Mueller “believes he will need to subpoena records and take testimony from witnesses,” which could potentially stretch “for months.”
In a separate report, CNN said Mueller has been delving into questionable financial relationships between Trump, his associates, and Russia. According to the report, this information “could offer a more concrete path toward potential prosecution” than the question of collusion with Moscow.
Unlike his predecessors in the Oval Office, Donald Trump has been oddly protective of his finances. During the 2016 presidential campaign, he refused to follow the tradition of releasing his tax returns, which only furthered the perception that he has something to hide. Additionally, Trump told The New York Times that he considers Mueller looking into his finances as a “red line” in the investigation.
Now that Mueller appears to be getting close to something damning, Trump appears to be sweating.
In an official response to the grand jury report, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders issued the following statement:
Ty Cobb, special counsel to the president, said he wasn’t aware that Mr. Mueller had started using a new grand jury. “Grand jury matters are typically secret,” Mr. Cobb said. “The White House favors anything that accelerates the conclusion of his work fairly….The White House is committed to fully cooperating with Mr. Mueller.”
In an appearance on NBC News, Trump lawyer John Dowd added that their legal team has been “cooperating with Bob Mueller and his staff since the first of June because we’re trying to get this thing over and done with.”
Yeah, right.
Although the official position is that Donald Trump is being a good soldier and willing to allow the investigation to run its course, his actions and threats against those involved in the query presents him as anything but cooperative.
Fearing that Trump might attempt to fire Mueller and Attorney General Jeff Sessions and replace them with flunkies willing to back off from the investigation, congressional leaders have pulled a procedural roadblock from their bag of tricks.
Instead of completely closing down congress during their annual summer recess (which began last Thursday) and leaving Trump without adult supervision, senators locked in nine “pro-forma” sessions (brief meetings that only last a minute or so).
The strategic move was introduced by GOP Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and assures that the Senate will not officially adjourn. Instead, it will continue to operate in session every 3 business days throughout the August recess, as a way to prevent Trump from pulling a fast one and making appointments in their absence.
Politics
Meanwhile, Donald Trump continues to be his own worst enemy in the investigation of his ties to Russia.
Late last week, “The Donald” landed in New Jersey for a 2-week vacation at a local golf course. He also pushed his Secret Service detail away, ordering them to use drones to keep an eye on him and to simply leave him be.
A few hours later, a private plane belonging to Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich (who has close ties to Vladimir Putin, and whose wife attended Trump’s inauguration in January), also landed at the identical New Jersey airport, not long after Trump. Although the events could all be purely coincidental, political pundits are already speculating that Trump may have released his Secret Service detail so as to avoid any witnesses seeing him meet privately with Abramovich.
If Donald Trump is really the poor innocent victim he claims Mueller and the Democrats are conducting a witch-hunt against, why does he continuously get in the way of a federal investigation? Why has he instigated a public spat with his own attorney general for not shielding him from an investigation he brought upon himself via his own “king-like” actions? Why is he threatening to fire the bipartisan investigator assigned to the case because he’s getting too close to the “red line” of Trump’s secret financial dealings? Why does he continue to make matters worse instead of simply cooperating, allowing the investigation to run its course, then getting back on track with his agenda?
In the words of Democratic Rep. Maxine Waters: “Follow the money.” With a grand jury set to convene this week, Mueller and his team seem to be doing just that.
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This seems like a pretty big deal. I don’t think they call up grand jury’s unless it is serious. You make good points DJ. Follow the money like Maxine Waters said. Trump probably has so many years of crooked deals with Russian mobsters that all trace back to Putin, so of course he is hiding. And we were stupid enough to let him hide it without checking anything before electing him. Anyway Pence better get ready because Trump is going down.