Donald Trump panics over Russia: Jeff Sessions, Priebus, Bannon all huddled at Mar-a-Lago
Just hours after Donald Trump tried to create his most absurd distraction from the Russia scandal to date by falsely insisting that President Obama had been spying on him, it turns out Trump’s entire team is now in panic mode. In fact Trump’s entire senior team is huddled at his Mar-a-Lago home in Florida as we speak, as they to figure out what their Russia endgame might be.
The Donald Trump advisers huddled at Mar-a-Lago today include White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, White House chief strategist Stephen Bannon, White House counsel Don McGahn, and Attorney General Jeff Sessions among others. Sessions is particularly notable because he wasn’t scheduled to make the trip but was added to the roster at the last minute. But at this late stage in the Russia scandal, what options do the Trump team even have left? None of them are good.
One option is for Jeff Sessions to resign, in a last ditch attempt at staving off the Russia scandal. Dana Boente, seemingly now a Trump loyalist despite having been originally appointed by Obama, would then presumably become acting Attorney General, giving him control over the Trump-Russia investigation. But even sacrificing Sessions seems unlikely to stave off the heat for long. Sacrificing Michael Flynn last month did little to stop the bleeding.
Another option is for Donald Trump to launch a controversial major new initiative on Monday, in the hope of creating a distraction from Russia. That may explain why Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly is also at Mar-a-Lago right now, as any expansion of Trump’s anti-immigrant bender would go through DHS. But even such a stunt might only take the heat off Russia for a day or two.
As it is, Donald Trump is already so cornered that he’s now falsely accusing President Obama of wiretapping him on a “Nixon/Watergate” level. That’s an absurd and desperate last stab at trying to survive a scandal which Trump seems to be figuring out he can’t survive. Contribute to Palmer Report
