Robert Mueller’s latest aggressive move sends shockwaves through Donald Trump’s White House
In the wake of Donald Trump Jr’s bumbling and incriminating testimony before Congress yesterday, it’s taken Special Counsel Robert Mueller all of one day to use that information to turn Donald Trump’s White House upside down. Mueller is already going hard after six staffers who helped Trump craft the lies that he instructed his son to tell about his Russia meeting – and one of those staffers appears to have signaled that criminal charges may be on the table for her.
Trump Jr admitted yesterday that he was lying when he initially told the media that his meeting with the Russian government had nothing to do with the election. It’s already been reported that Trump Sr crafted that initial story. Now that it’s been firmly established as a lie, it gives Mueller grounds to pursue Trump for obstructing justice by pushing that lie. Moreover, it gives Mueller grounds to pursue the six staffers who helped Trump come up with that lie. One of them is Hope Hicks, who despite keeping a low public profile, is arguably Donald Trump’s closest and most trusted White House aide.
Just hours after it was reported that Mueller is pursuing the gang of six, Hicks has responded by hiring a high priced attorney, according to a Politico report (link). Hiring an attorney is not an admission of guilt, and it should not be interpreted that way. But hiring an attorney can be interpreted as an expectation or fear that criminal charges may come into play.
It’s not a stretch to take this swift move on the part of Hope Hicks as a sign that she fears Robert Mueller may threaten to bring criminal charges against her (conspiracy to commit obstruction of justice, misprision of a felony, etc) in order to pressure her to flip on Donald Trump. Numerous other Trump staffers have hired attorneys in relation to the Russia scandal, but they’ve generally been people who actually met with Russians or allegedly conspired with Russia. Hicks is simply someone who appears to have helped Trump craft a lie, long after the fact.
At this rate, Mueller looks to be willing to bring charges against anyone and everyone who has even tangentially helped Donald Trump to impede the Russia investigation. All it takes is one knowledgeable insider to flip on Trump and offer first-hand testimony about the true depths of Trump’s intent to obstruct, and the jig is up. Mueller is swiftly going after them all.
