New York Times headline reads “Newly Emboldened, Trump Says What He Really Feels”. Fact check: True.
For months, President Trump’s legal advisers implored him to avoid so much as mentioning the name of Robert S. Mueller III, the special counsel, in his tweets, and to do nothing to provoke him or suggest his investigation is not proper.
Ignoring that advice over the weekend was the decision of a president who ultimately trusts only his own instincts, and now believes he has settled into the job enough to rely on them rather than the people who advise him.
A dozen people close to Mr. Trump or the White House, including current and former aides and longtime friends, described him as newly emboldened to say what he really feels and to ignore the cautions of those around him.
That self-confidence has led to a series of surprising comments and actions that have pushed the Trump presidency in an ever more tumultuous direction.
If nothing else, Trump’s tweets act as a bellwether regarding how close Mueller is to hitting pay dirt. Seriously. If I were Mueller, all I would do is poke around, and whenever Trump starts tweeting “Witch hunt!”, I would know to stop at that place and dig deeper.
Trump was clearly watching Fox & Friends this morning, which reinforced everything he believes:
What is Trump doing? Again, one of two things — laying the justification for the firing of Mueller, or trying to destroy the credibility of witnesses against him. Maybe both.
Also, there is a tweet from yesterday which is, well, a lie.
He didn’t lie, because that was not what he was asked by “Senator G”. Here’s the relevant part of the transcript:
“Authorizing” and “knowing of” are two very different things. But again, look at what Trump is doing — trying to impeach the credibility of a witness against him.
This all comes as news is around that Mueller is focusing on obstruction of justice, rather than collusion. This is why Trump is trying to attack Comey, who is not only a witness, but the OBJECT of obstruction (the Comey firing).
The “newly emboldened Trump” makes the left nervous, as that once again puts a Mueller firing on the line. Trump’s lawyers have repeatedly said that Trump is not even considering firing Mueller, but nobody believes that. Part of the concern about a possible Mueller firing comes from the fact that very few Republicans — save Graham, Flake, McCain (probably) and a couple others — are NOT waiving Trump off the idea. I don’t think they are scared of Trump. Rather, they are terrified of Trump’s voters, their own ostensible base, and Trump’s voters will back Trump to the hilt in any standoff with Mueller.