When even the lawyers (and the son in law) lawyer up, the environment in which Trump finds himself is really quite strange, with the result that he inevitably becomes isolated. Think about this: since the crime at issue is obstruction of justice, virtually everyone in the White House and all of Trump’s advisors and lawyers are potentially involved in an ongoing criminal activity. IANAL but involvement in such activity generally nullifies attorney-client privilege. Any decent lawyer already knows that Trump’s actions have already put himself in the jackpot, and to advise him to do anything in furtherance of the coverup is, one would think, tantamount to professional suicide and possible imprisonment.
mene, mene, tekel, upharsin.
It seems to me that anyone in the administration would see the handwriting on the wall (unless you are as crazy as Steven Bannon of course) and start avoiding any conversation with Trump (or anyone else) on the topic like it was the plague.
But, wait, that is Trump’s favorite thing to rant, tweet, opine, talk, and ask about (after himself, Clinton and Obama). “Comey this, Rosenstein that, Sessions this, Congress that….”
Now, Nixon, while isolated near the end, never really got to that place where he had no idea about what to do next. First off, he was himself a Duke-trained lawyer, and while socially inept he did have certain political friends and allies, as well as high priced personal attorneys, right up until the end. And, from a life of politics, he knew the levers he could pull and the buttons he could push. None of that worked out for him, but what I’m saying is that he had much more support and knowledge of the system than does Trump, not to mention a somewhat more controlled emotional makeup.
So, for me, it is not whether but when, and how, Trump accelerates his acting-out behaviors. Let’s look at the potential list:
1. Reichstag-fire-type activities, false flag efforts vs the prosecutors/Democrats. The baseball shooting was (coincidentally) close, but on much too small a scale and actually rather ambiguous in its overall political effects. The Clinton emails are getting ridiculous. What else is there? Would Trump be able to orchestrate any false flag operation, knowing that his phones are all tapped? I doubt it.
2. Wag the dog type actions, vs North Korea, Venezuela, Cuba. Short of nuclear war (which the generals would likely refuse to initiate), this might not be credible at this point; the time to use this tactic has largely passed. I can’t rule out a Putin-created emergency in Turkey, Syria, or eastern Europe, but I imagine Putin might see impeachment as not such a bad thing at this point...Trump has done about all the damage he can do to the U.S. and NATO at this point, and the sanctions aren’t coming off.
3. Saturday-massacre scenario. One of the few avenues open to Trump at this point. Mueller is putting together the dream team of political/financial prosecutors and the FBI is all in vs. Trump. Marc Kasowitz looks like dog-doo on Mueller’s shoe; he cannot possibly stand against all that power; in fact, he can’t even spell “president.” Given Trump’s isolation, his impulsiveness, and his general stupidity, he will almost certainly try this within the next few days. It seems clear that he, the Russians, Wikileaks, etc. have ginned up something to discredit Rosenstein, Comey and/or Mueller; that is the reason for Rosenstein’s cryptic warning about anonymous/single sourced foreign stories. As it seems likely that Rosenstein will have to recuse himself, it will fall to conservative Rachel Brand to act as Mueller’s supervisor. Trump will order her to fire Mueller, and she will refuse, because she could give a shit if she gets fired, she will go back to the ‘gold standard’ DC law firm she previously worked at, laughing all the way to the bank (If she is fired, she could refuse to stand down, which would create something we have never seen in this country). At any rate, I think impeachment would happen if he fires her.
4. Some sort of incitement to the dufus militia folks to riot or threaten members of Congress. This seems unlikely after the baseball shootings.
5. Bizarre behavior. Ok, REALLY bizarre behavior, Article 25 stuff: carrying a gun; walking on the White House lawn in his underwear; sleeping with his own portrait; fondling his daughter in public.
So step up young man/woman!!, Pick the day of the ‘massacre’ and win a giant teddy bear!