The Barnum and Bailey Circus Is Alive and Well and Living in the White House

Spicey resigned! Oh noes! We won’t have him to kick around any more. I swear, stuff happens so fast in DC these days it’s like a three-ring circus. In more ways than one.

Spicer’s resignation came about because some guy named Anthony Scaramucci was given the job of communications director. Scaramucci is a Wall Street financier and big-time Republican donor with no experience in journalism or corporate communications, so this should be fun. We’ll see how long he lasts.

Related: Trump 101: How to Speak His Language.

There’s also been a shakeup in Trump’s so-called “legal team” – Marc Kasowitz, Trump’s personal attorney, is out.  “Legal team” spokesman Mark Corallo has resigned. I look forward to the tell-all books that ought to be published next year, if not by Christmas.

Meanwhile, there are stories that Trump and Putin had other meetings at G20 beside the ones we know about.

But the big news is about the coming Mueller-Trump Smackdown. As I wrote yesterday, Trump indicated in his word salady-way that he expected Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller to limit his investigation to things directly related to the 2016 investigation. Then Bloomberg published a report that Mueller clearly was looking into Trump’s business interests, especially as they pertain to Russia. This includes  Trump’s as yet undisclosed tax returns, btw.

By all accounts, Trump has gone ballistic. White House staff have been put to work trying to dig up dirt on Mueller and his team. Lawyers have been put to work trying to determine if Trump could pardon himself. (The consensus: no.) Trump’s beef with the investigation is being called a war on the Justice Department.  See especially Josh Marshall, The President at War.  In short, he’s thrashing around in ways one would expect a very guilty man to do.

It’s a good bet Trump is going to try to fire Mueller, giving us Saturday Night Massacre II. And it could be very, very messy.

This places Trump and Mueller on a collision path. Either the president will have to fire the special counsel for doing exactly the same things that got Bharara and Comey axed, or he’ll have to sit and seethe as Mueller pokes into his taxes, his business, and who knows what else. …

… Legal experts think Trump could fire Mueller in several ways. He could direct Rosenstein to do so, but Rosenstein would probably refuse unless there was a strong legal justification. Trump could also try to change the rules for firing, but that would also have to go through Rosenstein. Either path is fraught with likely firings or resignations at the Justice Department.

If Trump is half as guilty as I suspect he is, he’ll burn the White House down before he’d allow his business dealings to be probed.

Elsewhere:

Natalia Veselnitskaya, the lawyer who met with Junior, has connections to Russian intelligence.

Exxon Mobile has been fined for violating Russian sanctions while Tillerson was CEO.

Trump wants to hire foreign workers for Mar-a-Lago. He decided this during Made in America week.

10 thoughts on “The Barnum and Bailey Circus Is Alive and Well and Living in the White House

  1. A is related to B. The new guy was hired because he will be a Trump family loyalist. This is important because Trump is going after anyone and everyone who goes after the truth. I think Trump knows the truth will come out and the new guy is being brought on board for his ability to flat out lie his ass off for Trump.

    Prebius is reportedly on the skids, too. He and Spicey opposed the hiring of the new guy and lost. Spicey won’t work for him and the result says Prebius has no clout. Spicey and Prebius represented a ‘professional’ faction that was supposed to temper what Trump would do & say. Trump isn’t having it and he’s paranoid about the ‘establishment wing’.

    Prebius and Spicer were concerned with getting the GOP agenda implemented. Trump has always been about Trump. At the moment, he’s circling the wagons with only Trump and his family on the inside of the ring. Trump wants to preserve his power and GOP goals can go to hell.

    I think the shakeup has everything to do with having a loyalist as a spokesman – to do that he doesn’t have to know any more about policy or politics than Trump does. (Spicer was reportedly knowledgeable.) I would guess this has less to do with Spicer’s failure to put lipstick on past pigs, as it has to do with future pigs that Trump wants to be presented as beauty pageant contestants. If I’m right it has nothing to do with health care or infrastructure or tax reform. Trump is going to go after Mueller and the DOJ and the judiciary if he has to to save his ass. He needs someone who can sell unconstitutional actions TO HIS BASE as the Great and Powerful Trump doing battle with the forces of evil. IMO Trump thinks that as long as the majority of the GOP base supports him, Congress will tolerate anything.

    Last thought – the prez didn’t just decide yesterday that he wanted to get to know the DC members of the NY Times better. There was something he wanted to say for a reason. One question struck me as out of place – as if the reporter was asking a question someone prompted him to ask. It was too specific and had no lead up to it. “Would Mueller investigating Trump family finances cross a line?” The answer from Trump wasn’t to frighten Mueller – it’s for the base, perhaps as a justification for what’s to come.

  2. Junior is due to testify under oath next week. He’s looking forward to trying his hand at bullshiting the Congressional investigation commitee. He must be as stupid as his old man if he is eager to put himself in that situation. It’s not going to be a hand holding exercise like Hannity gave him..I’m surprised his lawyer didn’t caution him to wait for a subpoena before giving any testimony . Seems every time he opens his mouth he sinks in a little deeper. I guess he’s got a little bit of his father’s psychopath genes where he’s compelled by nature to believe he’s got it all under control and that he’s smarter everyone.

  3. What the imbecile fails to realize is that he CAN NOT fire Mueller. If Mueller is abruptly asked to clean out his desk, I guarantee you someone will the same day have a big enough Go Fund Me set up to keep Mueller and his team going for years.

    Does the Constitution actually say in black and white that impeachment is an absolute prerequisite for incarceration? They could just lock him down, take his phone (leave the belt) and simply call him the president, but with no outside contact or responsibilities.

  4. Well, glad to see that Spicey finally grew a pair and made the initial steps to reclaim his dignity.. I’m sure he had many hours of mirror therapy building up the courage to confront his abuser. I wish him success as he goes through the healing process and works toward recovery.
    Always remember, Spicey.. It’s better to die on your feet than to live on your knees.

    Oh, and,… Never put your faith and trust in a psychopath.

  5. “Trump wants to preserve his power and GOP goals can go to hell.”
    Then I agree with Trump about the GOP goals. But not about preserving his power.

  6. Looks like Vlad is taking care of Trump’s Sessions problem… Talk about having a target put on your back. Impeccable timing?

    Also Friday, The Washington Post reported that the Russian ambassador to the U.S. has said he discussed election-related issues with Sen. Jeff Sessions when the two men met during the 2016 presidential race.

    The Post cited anonymous U.S. officials who described U.S. intelligence intercepts of Ambassador Sergey Kislyak’s descriptions of his meetings with Sessions, who was then a foreign policy adviser to Trump and now serves as attorney general.

    Justice Department spokeswoman Sarah Isgur Flores said Sessions stands by his previous assertion that he never had conversations with Russian officials about any type of interference with the election.

  7. It’s not a circus.
    Staging a great circus show involves planning, talent, execution (which, for a change, I’m FOR!), and showmanship!

    This is more like a bunch of naive pre-teen’s trying thier hand at an orgy.
    Only they don’t know which tabs go in which slots (that’s slOTs, gutter-mind’s!)..

  8. Scaramucci may be a better liar than Spicer, but will he be able to keep up as his boss continues to undercut the latest lies with his tweets?

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