Robert Mueller is using Sean Spicer and Reince Priebus to take down Donald Trump
Most investigations into a “big boss” involve leaning on the boss’s underlings so that they either unwittingly give up incriminating information on the boss while trying to explain away their own innocence, or outright flip on the boss in exchange for leniency. Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Donald Trump is no different. Now he’s about to take that approach with two close advisers whom Trump just finished disloyally shoving out the door.
Mueller is now targeting six current and former Trump White House advisers, according to the Washington Post, in relation to Donald Trump’s attempt at covering up the true nature of his son’s meeting with the Russian government (link). The two most prominent names on that list: former White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus and former White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer. This is crucial for a number of reasons.
The first, and obvious, reason is that Priebus and Spicer were regularly in close proximity to Trump and his decision making process for his first six months in office. They were both on the plane with Trump while he was dictating the lies that he wanted Donald Trump Jr to tell about the Russia meeting. They know most of what transpired on a daily basis within the White House. The second reason this is crucial is that neither of them is likely to be particularly loyal to Trump in the face of potential criminal charges.
Reince Priebus and Sean Spicer are career RNC employees who joined the Donald Trump administration in an attempt at maintaining a Republican influence in Trump’s White House. Both were treated poorly by Trump, and both were pushed to resign as Trump briefly sided with incoming adviser Anthony Scaramucci. Mueller can potentially threaten to charge Spicer and Priebus with conspiracy to obstruct justice or misprision of a felony, based on their involvement in Trump’s attempt at covering up the Russia meeting. The point isn’t to put Spicer or Priebus in prison. The point is to get them to flip on Trump – and that’s precisely what they’ll do.
