NPR
NY Times
Washington Post
Image:
I know my posting week is over but I really think this is an important issue that we should have an opportunity to discuss.
On Monday (10/30/17) the office of Special Council Robert Mueller indicted former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort and his deputy, Rick Gates. Following these indictments the Mueller team also revealed that they had previously arrested a former Trump national security adviser named George Papadopoulos, who plead guilty to lying to the FBI. They also revealed that Papadopoulos has been cooperating with the Mueller investigation.Do you think this is the beginning of the end for the Trump administration? Where do you think this probe will go from here? Will Trump make any moves against council Mueller and if he does what will the reaction be from congress?
4 comments:
As big as Manafort's indictment seems of the moment, I do not believe it will leave that big of a wake. Trump had numerous moments - the Access Hollywood video, insulting a gold star family, even his presidential announcement speech. No one believed Trump could survive these events. After all of these transgressions, Trump's voting base has stayed loyal. In just months, this will simply become another bump in Trump's past.
While this specific indictment may amount to nothing, Mueller's probe is far from over. Papadopoulos's cooperation will definitely be a shock to Trump's cabinet, leading to fragmentation and distrust that could force guilty parties out and into the open. Mueller does not seem like he will stop his investigation any time soon, and there are only more indictments to come.
Trump can take actions against Mueller, but none would be a good idea. Trump could fire Mueller. This would obviously stop the investigation, but he would be viewed quite suspiciously for evading the investigation. Another officeholder would most likely pick up on Mueller's trail, so this would only end up being a delay in the process. Also, Trump could pardon Manafort. He would not have to worry about Manafort confessing anything damaging for his cabinet, and Mueller would need a new target to extract information from. However, this would receive criticism from most of the nation, as there is no real reason to pardon him other then covering his tracks. Additionally, this would force even more tension between trump and the investigatory team, perhaps driving them to search even more.
While Ethan does allude to the extreme resiliency of the Trump administration in how it has managed to overcome such preposterous events, I believe that at some point the dominos will start to fall and this might be the time. It is has become redundant in how these events things are setting a precedent for the new era of politics, but people are eventually going to catch on that things are not going to change and measures need to be implemented. It is very likely that Trump will distance himself from Muller in some fashion, but he will again have his image further tarnished. An efficient reaction from Congress seems to be a desperate call for action as not much seems to be done as the polarization is at highs even within the individual parties. To summarize my perspective, while it is very likely that this will be another scandal that will be swept under the rug people are getting more and more agitated, and action will eventually ensue.
I have to lean towards agreeing with Tim. While Ethan may be right that Trump's administration has overcome many obstacles, there can't be immunity. Silton mentioned that this may be a longer investigation, and perhaps this is what will cause "the dominos" to finally fall. I guess what I believe is that if something did happen, it will eventually get released. Lastly, regarding the support Trump has, I found it interesting that despite the drop of support (down to 34% approval) that resulted from the Russia probe, this number has actually gone up to 38% percent after just a few days, so Ethan may be correct in claiming that, at least in terms of the supporters he already has, this isn't really having a huge effect on Trump.
First of all, I don't think that Trump can make any direct moves against Muller; the only way for Muller to be removed in his capacity as special prosecutor is for Attorney General Jeff Sessions to call the investigation off. Only problem is that Sessions recused himself from this particular investigation-he can't interact with the investigation in any way. This leaves the Deputy Attorney General as the only one who can call the investigation and Muller off-Rod Rosenstien, who enjoys a professional relationship with Muller that goes back to the 90's and has no indication of calling off the investigation, especially now that the new indictments have come about. However, Y'all are forgetting a crucial power of the president: a presidential pardon. Article 2 Section 2 of the constitution states that the president "shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the United States, except in cases of impeachment." Can't Trump simply let all be forgiven with the strike of a pen?
Post a Comment