Donald Trump’s “treason isn’t a crime” defense isn’t going particularly well for him

| 8:35 pm EDT August 2, 2018
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When Rudy Giuliani joined Donald Trump’s team of lawyers in April, it was clear this addition was not for his legal advice. This was quickly spelled out in May, when Giuliani publicly admitted the attacks on Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation, as well as their claims of “Spygate,” were simply for public opinion in order to “[help] erode public confidence” in the investigation. While we already know that Trump’s base will believe whatever he tells them, this strategy is an attempt to convince those who may not pay as much attention to politics that it really is, in Trump’s words, a witch hunt.

Trump’s recent twitter attacks on Mueller’s investigation come off as the last-gasp attempts of a desperate man trying to save himself. Now that it is definitively known that Trump was not simply just receiving help stealing the election from Russia, but that he was in on the plan all along, Trump and his talking heads are pushing the narrative that assistance from Putin to subvert American democracy is actually a good thing. Rather than try to hide all of the evidence, or make up lies to discredit it, the new rhetoric is to accept treason as a positive. Despite this narrative clearly including the blatant admission of multiple felonies, it seems to be working to convince some people.

Based on a new poll by Yahoo Finance/SurveyMonkey, 40% of Republicans either “approve of Russian interference, or don’t strongly object to it.” While from this small sample size it may seem that the entire country has gone crazy, it is important to remember that Mueller is working with incontrovertible facts, not conspiracy theories or the opinions of individuals who fall for Trump and Giuliani’s lies. Rest assured, the only opinion that matters right now is that of Mueller, and then twelve jurors a little further down the road.