Russian To Judgement

There have been some news reports that the FBI’s investigation into Russian efforts to interfere with the 2016 election utilized an informant who somehow contacted the Trump campaign.

 

Li’l Donnie turned “federal informant” into “spy” and has been on fire over that, ranting on Twitter: “Look how things have turned around on the Criminal Deep State. They go after Phony Collusion with Russia, a made up Scam, and end up getting caught in a major SPY scandal the likes of which this country may never have seen before! What goes around, comes around! SPYGATE could be one of the biggest political scandals in history!”

 

Former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, appearing on ABC's "The View" on Tuesday, emphasized that the FBI's activities were focused on Russia's election interference efforts, not the Trump campaign itself. Joy Behar asked if Trump should be happy that the bureau was probing the Kremlin's interference campaign, Clapper said "he should be."

 

Here’s how Li’l Donnie responded to that:

“'Trump should be happy that the FBI was SPYING on his campaign.' No, James Clapper, I am not happy. Spying on a campaign would be illegal, and a scandal to boot!"

 

Responding to Trump’s tantrum, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein has directed to the Justice Department’s inspector general to see if any mean spy people were being mean to Trump campaign. 

 

I can’t help but think that Rod Rosenstein greets every day with the lament, “Oh, what fresh hell is this?”  

 

There’s going to be a meeting on Thursday to give lawmakers access to classified information regarding the FBI’s 2016 Russia investigation. In case you’re wondering if any of this is politically motivated, let me clarify, only senior Republican lawmakers are invited to this meeting; no Democrats. 

 

Now if all of this just sounds like Donald Trump being his usual thin skinned self and making any effort to link investigations into Russia's election interference efforts to a personal attack, the damage to our democracy may be more substantial. 

 

From William Yeomans, the Ronald Goldfarb Fellow at the Alliance for Justice, Lecturer at Columbia Law School and a 26 year veteran of the Department of Justice.

 

“Demanding that the FBI and Department of Justice investigate the use of an FBI source during his presidential campaign…. follows the authoritarian playbook. It orders law enforcement to launch an investigation without a factual predicate. Trump’s purpose is to delegitimize the investigation into his campaign and redirect law enforcement toward his political enemies.”

 

In reference to the proposed Thursday meeting, Yeoman’s had this to say: 

 

“The meeting… appears to be an inappropriate effort to use executive power over law enforcement and congressional oversight to extract classified information during the course of a criminal and counterintelligence investigation. That information will then be used to delegitimize the investigation and aid the president’s defense.” 

 

The purpose of the meeting is not a broad review and assessment of classified information as to how it might impact our nation but how to use this information to either defend Trump, attack his enemies or (too hit the sweet spot) both.  

 

Yeomans emphasizes this point, observing “The president’s demand for an investigation is transparently political. The reported facts hold that the FBI employed a longstanding confidential source to speak with three members of the Trump campaign who might have information about Russian email hacking. These contacts followed warnings to both campaigns that Russians might attempt to interfere in the election. By any standard, these minimal contacts were appropriate… steps in a counterintelligence investigation.”

 

As James Clapper noted on Tuesday, FBI's activities were focused on Russia's election interference efforts. Trump wants to make this personal. 

 

“Article II of the Constitution gives the president authority to make sure that the laws are faithfully executed. That makes him the formal head of federal law enforcement with the technical authority to direct its actions. That authority, however, has long been curtailed by recognition that law enforcement must remain above politics and the whims of presidents. Richard Nixon’s determined attempts to shut down the Watergate investigation, including his instruction to the CIA to tell the FBI to stand down, formed the core of the articles of impeachment adopted by the House Judiciary Committee.” 

 

In other words, when Nixon tried the same shit Trump is trying, Congress was ready to impeach Nixon’s ass. This time, Congress, or more specifically those Republican lawmakers who have switched their damn loyalty from the Constitution to Donald Trump are actually helping Trump do this shit. 

 

Since Nixon, William Yeomans notes that “administrations have observed strict norms that limit communication between the White House and Justice Department. They recognized that members of the FBI and Justice Department owe ultimate allegiance to the Constitution and laws and must be allowed to operate without presidential interference in prosecutorial decisions.”

 

What is bugging Trump and has bugged him since this whole mess began is that the FBI and Justice Department have not rolled over to play dead when Trump wants them to. It irks him to no end that the FBI and Justice Department have allegiances beyond his own whims.   

 

Since even before his inauguration, Trump has railed against the very idea of Russian electoral interference, even before the idea of collusion raised its ugly head. The question is why.

 

One assumption is why be against anyone looking into something unless there’s something to hide. Why is Trump so vehemently opposed to looking into Russia's election interference efforts unless Trump profited from those efforts? Why act guilty if you’re not guilty?

 

The thing to remember is that for Trump, it’s all personal.  If there is even the slightest possibility that Russia's election interference efforts tipped the scales in his favor to win the election, it diminishes his victory. It diminishes him. And Li’l Donnie gets very upset if something or someone diminishes him.  Just ask Seth Meyers.

 

Then gets worse if the story points to Trump’s campaign actively working with the Russians. Trump is not bugged about the legality or ethics of collaborating with a foreign power to win the Presidency. It’s the very idea that people might think he might have needed help.

 

Trump has this over inflated ego that sees itself as a one man force of nature. Trump does what he wants, goes where he wants and needs no one else. Of course, that whole self-image is bullshit. Trump got his whole start with help from dear old dad. Trump’s whole history as a real estate mogul is littered with those who helped with securing financing, bending laws and regulations, never mind all those people who “helped” Trump by not getting paid after his various bankruptcies. But for all that, Trump still holds to the self-delusion of being a self-made man who answers to no one.

 

Russia's election interference efforts are a matter of fact. The gravity of the evidence exerts an inescapable pull towards Russia’s intent and efforts to make that intent a reality.  This represents a serious and grave assault on our nation and its democratic ideals.

 

Trump looks at all this and thinks, “Fuck all that. This makes ME look bad.”