Secretary of Defense James Mattis just threw Donald Trump and Russia under the bus
From the start, we’ve all been waiting to see if and when Secretary of Defense James Mattis – the closest thing to a straight shooter in the otherwise entirely corrupt Donald Trump regime – might finally be in position to help finish Trump off. We just got a big piece of the puzzle in that regard, and the timing can’t be ignored.
James Mattis was speaking at a public event today, and according to CNN’s Jim Acosta, Mattis said this: “There is no doubt the relationship has worsened. He (Putin) tried again to muck around in our elections this last month and we are seeing a continued effort along those lines.” In the real world, we call these basic facts. But in the Trump regime, no one is allowed to admit that Russia did any such meddling, because that would mean admitting that Russia rigged the election for Trump, and in turn, that Trump is a Russian puppet.
So it’s a big deal that Mattis, one of the highest ranking and most respected people in the Trump regime, has decided that right now is the time to publicly throw Russia – and by definition Donald Trump – under the bus. He’s choosing his words carefully, saying things like “muck around” instead of more accurate things like “rigging” or “altering the outcome,” but this is still a major admission. It’s also noteworthy that Mattis is acknowledging Russia’s (apparently failed) attempt at rigging the 2018 midterm election in particular, making clear that this wasn’t just a one-time plot in 2016.
This is all about timing. Two days ago, Robert Mueller and Michael Cohen exposed that Donald Trump had a financial incentive, Trump Tower Moscow, in his plot with the Russians to rig the 2016 election in his favor. Now Trump’s own Secretary of Defense is suddenly making a point of saying that Trump-Russia election rigging is a real thing.
If James Mattis had said this six months or a year ago, he’d probably have gotten fired for it. By saying it now, he still risks getting fired, but apparently doesn’t care anymore. Our educated guess is that Mattis now senses Donald Trump is about to go down for the Trump-Russia scandal, and Mattis wants to make sure everyone knows that he was never okay with any of this, while also using his words to help speed up Trump’s downfall.
Bill Palmer is the publisher of the political news outlet Palmer Report