This smells like a huge Trump-Russia distraction
Earlier today Palmer Report noted that one too many conspicuous developments in the Trump-Russia scandal had surfaced over the past few days – much of it coming from Robert Mueller’s team – and that it meant something major was about to drop. But the big Trump-Russia headlines have largely been pushed to the backburner this evening, in light of the startling revelation that Trump has the Department of Homeland Security amassing a database of political reporters and media influencers, presumably in order to intimidate or punish those who report negative things about Trump. This doesn’t feel like a coincidence.
As we’ve explained, the Trump administration has left this anti-journalist plot to be found in plain sight. It was way too easy to find, and on this day of all days. We suspect the Trump regime put this out there today on purpose, not only to intimidate journalists who are getting too close to the truth, but also to specifically distract the focus away from what’s unfolding right now in the Trump-Russia investigation.
The tricky part is that we don’t know precisely what’s unfolding right now in Trump-Russia. We certainly know several of the pieces, as they’ve surfaced over the past forty-eight hours. Robert Mueller has been serving subpoenas to Trump’s business partners, just as he’s made public that he seized Paul Manafort’s bank accounts last year. This feels like a warning shot to Trump’s financial associates that if they don’t cooperate when it comes to their dirty-money business deals with Trump, their bank accounts will go poof too. Or maybe Mueller is warning Trump that his assets will be seized if he tries to remain in office after Mueller has demonstrated his guilt.
This one is admittedly tough to pin down, because the publicly visible pieces don’t seem to quite fit together, and there are surely pieces in play that we haven’t yet seen. But it already felt like all Trump-Russia hell was about to break loose this weekend. Now that the Donald Trump regime seems to be floating its most deranged distraction yet, there is even more reason to expect Trump-Russia fireworks. Contribute to Palmer Report
