Donald Trump fumes on Twitter about the latest media reports on multiple investigations into his political and personal affairs, including a New York Times account of his two-year campaign of “intimidation, pressure, and humiliation” to halt the inquiries.
Trump began the day with an angry blast against former FBI Assistant Director Andrew McCabe, who has detailed how high-level officials — concerned about Trump’s dismissal of FBI Director James Comey in May 2017 and his boasts to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov about the firing — considered invocation of the 25th Amendment, removing a President unfit for office.
TrumpWatch, Day 761: Trump Rails Against His Intelligence Agencies, Amid “Russian Asset” Suspicions
Then Trump turned to the media covering the Trump-Russia investigation:
The Press has never been more dishonest than it is today. Stories are written that have absolutely no basis in fact. The writers don’t even call asking for verification. They are totally out of control. Sadly, I kept many of them in business. In six years, they all go BUST!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 20, 2019
He aimed in particular at The Times, repeating and emphasizing his provocative — and danagerous, in the eyes of many — portrayal of journalists:
The New York Times reporting is false. They are a true ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 20, 2019
On Tuesday the Times published a lengthy summary, by three of its senior reporters, of Trump’s conduct. The article began with an incident in late 2018 when Trump asked newly-appointed Acting Attorney Matthew Whitaker to put a Trump ally, Geoffrey Berman, in charge of a Manhattan investigation of Trump’s payoffs in 2016 to two women claiming sexual encounters with him.
The Acting Attorney General balked, and “the president soon soured on Mr. Whitaker, as he often does with his aides, and complained about his inability to pull levers at the Justice Department that could make the president’s many legal problems go away”.
The episode was the latest Trump attempt to curb or even shut down the work of the FBI and then Special Counsel Robert Mueller. The article goes beyond Trump’s regular Twitter barrages and public statements: it documents White House lawyers confidentially expressing concern about Trump and his inner circle spreading “misleading information” and Trump’s “private conversations with Republican lawmakers about a campaign to attack the Mueller investigation”.
Mueller Reporting Soon?
Trump’s latest agitation came amid confusing reports that Mueller may wrap up his 21-month investigation as early as next week.
The claims first appeared on CNN. The outlet said newly-confirmed Attorney General Bill Barr — appointed by Trump after Barr’s predecessor Jeff Sessions refused to oversee the Trump-Russia inquiry — is preparing an announcement that he will soon submit a summary of Mueller’s findings to Congress.
But CNN’s sources of “people familiar with the plans” raised questions of whether the Trump camp is trying to bounce Mueller into an early submission which could limit the damage to the President. Trump’s allies have said for more than a year that the inquiry’s end is imminent, with his lawyer Rudy Giuliani initially saying the matter would be concluded by Thanksgiving 2017.
The Washington Post soon echoed CNN’s claim, citing “a person familiar with the matter”. It added another clue that the motive was an attempt by the White House to contain any fallout: “An adviser to President Trump said there is palpable concern among the president’s inner circle that the report might contain information about Trump and his team that is politically damaging, but not criminal conduct.”