Matt Whitaker just flipped on Donald Trump
When former Acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker abruptly resigned the cushy new DOJ job that Donald Trump had given him, it raised questions about whether it was because Whitaker was flipping on Trump in order to avoid perjury charges. Whitaker erased any doubt as to what was going on when he testified privately today before the House Judiciary Committee, giving up Trump in the process.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler spoke to the television cameras after Matt Whitaker’s testimony, and he confirmed three things. First, Whitaker is no longer denying that he had conversations with Donald Trump about Mueller-related investigations. Second, Whitaker is revealing that he had conversations with Trump about firing U.S. Attorneys for the purpose of obstructing justice. Second, Whitaker is acknowledging that he and Trump discussed the scope of the Trump-Cohen SDNY case. So what does this mean?
What stands out about Matt Whitaker’s new story is that Donald Trump committed felonies by asking him to obstruct justice, and that in each instance, Whitaker refused to go along with it. This would mean that he didn’t commit any obstruction crimes; only Trump did. If Whitaker’s story holds up and he continues to cooperate, we don’t imagine Nadler will still refer him for perjury charges. After all, Whitaker is a peon, and Trump is the big fish.
Make no mistake here: whether he has some kind of formal plea deal that hasn’t been revealed, or whether he simply has an informal agreement with the House Judiciary Committee, Matt Whitaker just flipped on Donald Trump, directly incriminating Trump on several felonies. Whitaker is now a cooperating witness against Trump for the prosecution.
