Donald Trump in France, November 2018
Donald Trump spends Thursday fuming over the Trump-Russia investigation of Special Counsel Robert Mueller.
Trump began with frustration about reporting on his response to last week’s Democratic gains in Congressional elections: the firing of Attorney General Jeff Mueller — a step to try and contain Mueller through the appointment of political operative Matthew Whitaker as the acting replacement — Melania Trump’s intervention for the removal of Deputy National Security Advisor Mira Ricardel, indications that Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen will soon be fired, and rumors that White House Chief of Staff John Kelly is in trouble.
“Anytime I even think about making changes, the FAKE NEWS MEDIA goes crazy, always seeking to make us look as bad as possible!” Trump thundered.
He then berated Mueller with a series of false statements and insults:
The inner workings of the Mueller investigation are a total mess. They have found no collusion and have gone absolutely nuts. They are screaming and shouting at people, horribly threatening them to come up with the answers they want. They are a disgrace to our Nation and don’t…
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 15, 2018
….care how many lives the ruin. These are Angry People, including the highly conflicted Bob Mueller, who worked for Obama for 8 years. They won’t even look at all of the bad acts and crimes on the other side. A TOTAL WITCH HUNT LIKE NO OTHER IN AMERICAN HISTORY!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 15, 2018
In fact, Mueller was appointed by George W. Bush in 2001 and served the duration of Bush’s two terms, continuing in the Obama Administration from 2009 to 2013. Many of his team, like the Special Counsel, are Republicans.
That is unlikely to have Trump — who has made more than 800 false statements in recent weeks — as he continued:
The only “Collusion” is that of the Democrats with Russia and many others. Why didn’t the FBI take the Server from the DNC [Democratic National Committee]? They still don’t have it. Check out how biased Facebook, Google and Twitter are in favor of the Democrats. That’s the real Collusion!
White House sources say Trump has been sunk in fury since last week’s elections: “He’s pissed — at damn near everyone.” A “person close to the President” pointed at the Trump-Russia inquiry, “He knows it’s winding up. So, it’s unsettling.”
TrumpWatch, Day 664: Melania Gets Dismissal of Deputy National Security Advisor
Officials said he sat down with lawyers on Monday to discuss answers to Mueller’s written questions. The White House has refused for months to allow Trump to be interviewed face-to-face, fearing that he is likely to commit perjury.
There was no indication of what might have triggered Trump on Thursday morning, but later Thursday there was a significant development with the inadvertent revelation that WikiLeaks’ Julian Assange is under sealed indictment for his role in the Trump-Russia affair.
An unrelated court filing cited charges against Assange. It did not mention the nature, but during the 2016 Presidential campaign WikiLeaks disseminated e-mails stolen from Democrat outlets and the staff of nominee Hillary Clinton.
US intelligence has long concluded that Russian operatives hacked Democrat computers to obtain the e-mails and, through a third party, passed them to Assange. Mueller is reportedly investigating Trump campaign advisor Roger Stone over a role in the affair, with Stone telling friends that he expects to be indicated soon. A Stone associate, conspiracy theorist Jerome Corsi, has been questioned by Mueller’s team and also says he expects to be charged.
