Donald Trump has late night meltdown on eve of tomorrow’s crucial Trump-Russia sentencing
Donald Trump’s Twitter meltdowns of late have become almost a parody of themselves. He’s begun repeating himself in increasingly hyperbolic fashion from one day to the next, or starting a rant on one day and posting the rest of it a few days later. Today he went so much further off the rails than usual, it’s fair to ask what spooked him. Now that he’s taking the rare step of continuing his ranting into the night, it feels like this may be connected to tomorrow’s crucial Trump-Russia sentencing.
Former Trump campaign deputy chairman Rick Gates ultimately had to cut a plea deal after he was sold out by attorney Alex Van Der Zwaan, who agreed to plead guilty to withholding evidence, and turned over an incriminating recording he’d made of a phone call between himself and Gates. Van Der Zwaan is being sentenced tomorrow. He’s likely to end up with either little or no prison time, and it’s doubtful Trump cares about that aspect. Instead, the big story is that Mueller’s court filings reveal that Van Der Zwaan has even more secret evidence or information, and it’s apparently not just against Gates.
Here’s what Mueller’s newly unveiled court filing says: “Van der Zwaan is in an unusual position of having information related to the office’s investigation that is not widely known — including information that he knows first-hand due to his role in the conduct the Office is investigating.” If this information and evidence were strictly against Gates, there would be no need for Van Der Zwaan to remain silent about it, as Gates has already cut a deal and won’t be put on trial. In other words, Van Der Zwaan also has evidence against someone else.
This is most likely a result of Rick Gates having said things to Alex Van Der Zwaan that incriminated someone else in the Trump-Russia scandal. Robert Mueller already made clear in court filings last week that he sought a plea deal with Rick Gates because he wanted Gates to testify about Trump-Russia collusion, and not about Paul Manafort’s alleged financial crimes. This creates the possibility, perhaps even the likelihood, that Gates told Van Der Zwaan about Donald Trump’s guilt. If Trump (or more likely one of his handlers) has pieced this together, it would explain why Trump is going off the deep end tonight.
