Donald Trump publicly embraced Michael Flynn today, proving they’re both guilty on Russia
This was a day when Donald Trump should have fired National Security Advisor Michael Flynn without thinking twice. Flynn was caught red handed over the weekend having colluded with the Russian government both before and after election day. Firing him today would have scuttled Trump’s Russia scandal for awhile. There was even the opportunity to bury Flynn’s firing within the larger story of the Canadian Prime Minister being in town. Instead Trump made a point of doing the precise opposite, embracing Flynn today – and now we know they’re both guilty.
Donald Trump walked into his Canadian joint press conference this afternoon, went directly up to Michael Flynn, who was conspicuously seated in the front row, and made a point of shaking his hand while the cameras in the room were all watching. The handshake was broadcast live by CNN among others. The message could not have been more clear: whatever Trump thinks of Flynn, he afraid of the consequences of him. And this came less than a full day after Trump had told advisors that he was planning to ban Flynn from the White House. But instead of going through with it, Trump made a point of marrying himself to Flynn today for all to see.
If Trump were planning to wait a couple weeks and then quietly fire Flynn during a Friday afternoon news dump, he wouldn’t have made such a scene of publicly embracing him today. There’s only one logical explanation for why Trump did what he did: he’s afraid of Flynn. Not only is he not firing the guy, he’s kowtowing to him. Whatever Flynn knows about Trump’s involvement in the Russia scandal, Trump is now actively trying to convince Flynn to keep quiet about it – and this can’t last long.
The revelations about Flynn have now given Trump’s detractors, both in the government and among the public, a tangible basis for continuing to shine a light on Trump’s election collusion with Russia. So long as Trump doesn’t fire Flynn, that spotlight will continue to grow hotter, and burn Trump eventually. He knows it, and yet he’s embracing Flynn in the White House anyway. That tells us they’re both guilty – and the impeachment clock is ticking.
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