Trump continues campaign to discredit Trump-Russia investigation of Special Counsel Robert Mueller
Developments on Day 338 of the Trump Administration:
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Trump Seeks Dismissal of Top FBI Personnel
Hoping to end the Trump-Russia investigation, Donald Trump presses for the removal of high-level FBI personnel.
In a series of tweets on Saturday, Trump maintained the campaign of his allies to restrict Special Counsel Robert Mueller and even collapse the inquiry, which has been closing in on the President and his inner circle.
He aimed at Andrew McCabe, the Deputy Director who temporarily led the FBI after Trump fired Director James Comey in May in an earlier attempt to end the investigation of links between Trump’s staff and Russian officials.
How can FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, the man in charge, along with leakin’ James Comey, of the Phony Hillary Clinton investigation (including her 33,000 illegally deleted emails) be given $700,000 for wife’s campaign by Clinton Puppets during investigation?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 23, 2017
Contrary to Trump’s allegation, McCabe never received money for the campaign of his wife Dr. Jill McCabe for the Virginia State Senate. The McCabe campaign received $467,500 from Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe’s political action committee and almost $208,000 from the State Democratic Party in autumn 2015. All donations were before McCabe became Deputy Director and before any role in the investigation of Clinton’s e-mails.
Sources close to McCabe said he is not being forced out, but confirmed that he told senior FBI officials months ago of plans to retire in 2018. The Deputy Director is eligible to leave in March with a full pension.
But Trump seized the opportunity to portray a victory over an unjust investigation, “FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe is racing the clock to retire with full benefits. 90 days to go?!!!”
He also celebrated the reassignment of FBI general counsel James Baker into another position:
Wow, “FBI lawyer James Baker reassigned,” according to @FoxNews.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 23, 2017
Sources said the move of Baker was not connected to the Trump campaign against the Russia investigation. However, the lawyer had been targeted by Trump’s allies in allegations of leaks by the FBI and the National Security Agency to the media about surveillance of the Trump camp.
The White House and its allies, including Fox News, have stepped up efforts to discredit the FBI and the Mueller investigation since the guilty plea of former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn in early December. With Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner the possible next target of the inquiry — and, from there, a focus on Trump — the campaign has tried to portray Mueller, his team, and FBI agents as anti-Trump. Drawing from conspiracy theories on the Internet, Trump’s supporters have declared a plot by the “Deep State”, an allegation fed by Fox’s references to a “coup”.
The former CIA Deputy Director John McLaughlin commented yesterday:
I’ve served in both Republican and Democratic administrations and have seen some unusual things … but this is some really strange stuff. https://t.co/PH49OdIcTJ
— john mclaughlin (@jmclaughlinSAIS) December 24, 2017
And former CIA Director John Brennan adds his support for the FBI:
Andy McCabe & Jim Baker epitomize integrity, competence, and respect for rule of law. Not surprised @realDonaldTrump fears them, along with the rest of FBI. I just donated to @FBIAgentsAssoc as a small way of saying #thanksFBI. Here’s how you can too: https://t.co/eSCrfJxxwx https://t.co/QIzsn6EGYY
— John O. Brennan (@JohnBrennan) December 24, 2017
Bannon: Kushner & Ivanka Are “Railhead of All Bad Decisions”
Steve Bannon, former White House chief strategist and executive officer of the attack site Breitbart, has turned his “#WAR” with the Republican “establishment” on Donald Trump’s daughter Ivanka and son-in-law Jared Kushner.
In a lengthy Vanity Fair article, profiling Bannon’s ambitions — including a possible 2020 Presidential run if Donald Trump is no longer in office — the hard-right activist proclaims, “The railhead of all bad decisions is the same railhead: Javanka.”
Bannon recalled an Oval Office meeting in which he accused Ivanka of being “the queen of leaks” and she supposedly responded, “You’re a fucking liar!”
See also TrumpWatch, Day 336: Bannon for President in 2020?
He blamed Ivanka for the surprise loss of Bannon-supported candidate Roy Moore in the Alabama Senate special election, pointing to her criticism of Moore’s reported sexual misconduct with teenagers, “There is a special place in hell for people who prey on children.”
Bannon said, “What about the allegations about her dad and that 13-year-old?” – a reference to an allegation from a California woman that Trump raped her as a teenager, among claims from 15 other women of sexual harassment by the businessman and reality TV star.
Turning to Kushner, Bannon said, “He doesn’t know anything about the hobbits or the deplorables”, terms that the hard-right activists uses for Trump supporters.
Bannon pointed to Kushner as culpable for Trump’s firing of FBI Director James Comey in May, in a vain effort to halt the Trump-Russia investigation: “It’s the dumbest political decision in modern political history, bar none. A self-inflicted wound of massive proportions.”
Trump to Friends on Tax Changes: “You Just Got a Lot Richer”
Setting aside his public presentation of the $1.5 trillion tax change bill that he signed into law on Friday, Donald Trump has boasted to wealthy friedns of how much they will benefit.
Starting his holiday weekend at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida hours after the signing, Trump told friends at a nearby table at dinner, “You all just got a lot richer.”
EPA Head Pruitt Hires Unqualified, Banned Banker to Oversee Cleanup of “Superfund” Sites
Rachel Maddow of MSNBC reports on how Environmental Protection Agency head Scott Pruitt hired his friend, banker Albert Kelly, to oversee the cleanup of “Superfund” sites, areas contaminated by hazardous waste and posing a risk to health and/or the environment.
Maddow notes that Kelly has no qualifications in environmental work and received a lifetime ban from banking just before his appointment.
Meanwhile, more than 700 qualified staff, including hundreds of scientists, have left the EPA as Pruitt saps morale, guts environmental regulations, and denies climate change.