Donald Trump is popping the wrong champagne in the wrong direction at the wrong time for the wrong reasons and it’s blowing up in his face
“President” Donald Trump and the GOP are taking a premature victory lap now that the Mueller report has been submitted, akin to cutting down the nets in the NCAA Tournament while a call is under review. As Palmer Report has cautioned, take a deep breath. Everyone should have anticipated that without a smoking gun, and the bullets, and video, Trump would take to feeling vindicated and smug. And the press would follow, stating that there is nothing here based on a report by Attorney General William Barr, who wrote a four-page memo bereft of any complete-sentence quotes from the actual report.
This the same Barr who sent the 19-page memo unsolicited to Donald Trump and the Department of Justice as an audition, in which he threw cold water on any possibility of obstruction of justice, and made it clear a sitting president could not be indicted. This is the same Barr who also shut down the Iran Contra investigation the last go around.
In addition, there are at least a dozen other ongoing investigations into the Trump crime syndicate, including matters that were referred from the Mueller investigation. Where these go, time will tell. Finally, it is a new world we live in, with the reality that a person occupying the White House engaged in behaviors that are reprehensible and wrong, whether or not they can be proven beyond a reasonable doubt. We used to have higher standards.
In the meantime, things have gotten a bit whacky. Sarah Huckabee Sanders revealed that Trump has compiled an enemies list. The Department of Justice was in court arguing that while Trump tweets in an official capacity, he blocks people on a personal basis. And his water boy, Lindsey “Kompromat” Graham, is suggesting that he will use his powers to investigate the “other side,” apparently meaning Hillary Clinton, and perhaps the FBI and DOJ folks who were doing their job. The man in the White House, Corruptus Maximus, and his codependents in Congress and the media are taking a premature e-jubilation tour. Time will tell what ends up happening. but for now, take the word of Palmer Report: deep breath and relax. Act 2 is upon the nation.
Daniel is a lawyer writing and teaching about SCOTUS, and is the author of the book “The Chief Justices” about the SCOTUS as seen through the center seat.