Amid a terrible day involving attempted assassination of Congressmen, one piece of news managed to break through: Trump is under investigation by special counsel Mueller for obstruction of justice.  The obstruction of justice investigation into the president began days after Comey was fired on May 9 with the team actively pursuing potential witnesses inside and outside the government. The White House is referring all questions about the Russia investigation to Trump’s personal lawyer, Marc Kasowitz.

Already, there is pushback, as the RNC leaked its talking points.

These are horrible talking points. The argument that the investigation is a distraction that is preventing them from carrying out their agenda should be tossed in the trash since an overwhelming majority disapprove of this president, his party, and their agenda. And when the White House’s best defense is complaining about Hillary Clinton while ranting about leaks, they will better off not saying anything. The talking points are bad and likely only to make things worse for Trump.

I will save for some other time another common observation: why the hell is the RNC and Republicans in general hitching their wagon to this sinking ship?

Last night and this morning it looks like there is a concerted effort to smear Mueller.  Hannity got the ball rolling by arguing that Mueller had conflicts and that this was a witch hunt.

This sentiment was echoed this morning by Trump himself…

and Newt Gingrich…

… even thought Newt had a different opinion of Mueller less than a month ago:

And again there is more invocation of this term “deep state”, a nonsense scare phrase which is just a lament USA is a democracy with checks and balances. It’s both deeply silly and profoundly anti-America. Never forget that when Trump sycophants attack “the deep state,” they mean “a government of laws.”

One problem for Trump is that his push back fails to assess the extent of trouble he is in.  It’s not JUST obstruction of justice. As the WaPo article notices, it looks like Mueller is following the money:

Mueller is overseeing a host of investigations involving people who are or were in Trump’s orbit, people familiar with the probe said. The investigation is examining possible contacts with Russian operatives as well as any suspicious financial activity related to those individuals.

So it could get much worse.

Whining about the “deep state” and a “witch hunt” will not win converts and only shore up the most hardcore of his base.  Trump’s approval rating is at 36% and sinking, with a disapproval rating of %60 and climbing.

Trump and his defenders are going with the “they are just making things up to get me” tactic. It won’t work with obstruction of justice, because so much of the evidence against him is known to be true.  Let me explain.

It’s important to remember that, in obstruction investigations, the sum total or pattern of facts is often critical. When you’re doing an obstruction investigation, all the facts are important. Mueller won’t look at this as a discrete series of interactions, and instead is likely to ask, “Is there some pattern of behavior that constitutes obstruction?” If you’re looking for a pattern of behavior that constitutes obstruction, you want to know the entire pattern.

To be sure, some of these facts are in dispute. Trump has denied demanding Comey’s loyalty, and his advisers have said (ludicrously) that Trump merely asked Comey to drop the Flynn probe.

But there is a set of shared facts that are not in dispute, which we can now consult, and those already constitute a pattern of conduct that is deeply problematic, whether or not it ends up amounting to obstruction.

Here are those facts: Trump did fire Comey. Trump and the White House did contradict themselves about the rationale for that firing. They both did originally say that Trump fired Comey at the recommendation of Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Rod J. Rosenstein, who created a memo detailing that recommendation rooted in Comey’s handling of the Hillary Clinton email probe. After that story fell apart, Trump did subsequently tell NBC News that he was going to fire Comey regardless of any recommendation and that he did so over the Russia probe. Thus, Trump and the White House themselves did create the strong impression that Sessions and Rosenstein may have been involved in creating a cover story for the Comey firing, and this (among other things) did leave Rosenstein no choice but to appoint a special counsel.

That’s a lot that we know about. And who knows who else Trump talked to about firing Comey.

UPDATE:   A late afternoon mini-rant from Trump on Twitter. He’s sticking to the talking points.

Talking point:

Trump:

Wife Melania and their son Barron have now moved into the White House now that the school year is over. it was hoped their presence would calm him down. It didn’t.