New revelation in Donald Trump’s Russia scandal sets off slew of panic moves by numerous suspects
There are so many dominoes in Donald Trump’s Russia scandal, and they’re laid out in such complex fashion, that it was always going to take more than one domino falling to put the rest in motion. But a new revelation in the scandal has set off a series of panic moves on the part of various suspects in the scandal, suggesting that the revelation is far larger than it initially sounded like.
The news first arrived on Monday when the Washington Post reported that former Donald Trump campaign adviser Carter Page has had several meetings with federal investigators to discuss the Trump-Russia scandal, and that he didn’t even bother to bring an attorney along with him. Among the public and the pundits, initial interpretations were split as to whether this meant Page has flipped on Trump or Page is just an idiot. But the reactions of several other Trump-Russia players have since made clear that they view Page’s talks with the Feds as a reason to panic.
Almost immediately thereafter, former Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort suddenly decided to retroactively register as a foreign agent, after a prolonged period of having refused to do so. Did Manafort conclude that Page must have cut a deal, so he’d better hurry up and do the same before that door closed? And Donald Trump himself began obsessively tweeting about collusion, even going so far as to deny that there are any “tapes” of collusion (even though almost no one was asserting that there were any), suggesting that Trump views Page’s meetings as a sign that he’s turned over evidence of Trump-Russia collusion.
Russia also quickly recalled Ambassador Sergey Kislyak, who was at the center of that Trump-Russia collusion, suddenly trying to get him out of the picture. Even innately hostile Roger Stone has suddenly decided to testify before the House Intel Committee after months of stalling. Whatever Carter Page gave the Feds, everyone in the Trump-Russia scandal is now reacting like they know the sky is about to fall on them. So look for those dominoes to keep falling. If you’re a regular reader, feel free to support Palmer Report
Bill Palmer is the publisher of the political news outlet Palmer Report