It just never stops.
Forget Andrew McCabe, yesterday’s get. Today’s sweeties are Mark Mazzetti, Maggie Haberman, Nicholas Fandos, and Michael S. Schmidt. We’ll see how many have airtime tonight.
I find it mildly disappointing in that it’s mostly stuff we already know. Unidicted Co-conspirator Bottomless Pinocchio has been guilty, guilty, guilty of Obstruction of Justice and he confessed it to the Russian Ambassador and Lester Holt! On Tape!
It’s as good a summary as any I suppose.
Cody Fenwick at Alternet has flagged the new stuff this way-
Here are 7 bombshells from the NYT’s devastating report of Trump’s ‘war’ on the investigations into him
by Cody Fenwick, Alternet
February 19, 2019
- Trump pressured Whitaker to install a crony to oversee the SDNY investigation.
- Attorneys for the president dangled pardons to both Paul Manafort and Michael Flynn.
- Even though Michael Flynn resigned voluntarily, Trump pushed the falsehood that he asked for Flynn’s resignation.
- White House lawyers warned about Press Secretary Sean Spicer’s spreading of misinformation.
- Trump claims Rod Rosenstein told him the Michael Cohen investigation had nothing to do with him.
- Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) and other Trump allies decided in July 2017 to actively undermine Mueller.
- Trump has gone after Mueller and the Russia investigation more than 1,100 times in public.
Anyway, what everybody’s talking about-
Intimidation, Pressure and Humiliation: Inside Trump’s Two-Year War on the Investigations Encircling Him
By Mark Mazzetti, Maggie Haberman, Nicholas Fandos and Michael S. Schmidt, The New York Times
Feb. 19, 2019
As federal prosecutors in Manhattan gathered evidence late last year about President Trump’s role in silencing women with hush payments during the 2016 campaign, Mr. Trump called Matthew G. Whitaker, his newly installed attorney general, with a question. He asked whether Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States attorney for the Southern District of New York and a Trump ally, could be put in charge of the widening investigation, according to several American officials with direct knowledge of the call.
Mr. Whitaker, who had privately told associates that part of his role at the Justice Department was to “jump on a grenade” for the president, knew he could not put Mr. Berman in charge because Mr. Berman had already recused himself from the investigation. The president soon soured on Mr. Whitaker, as he often does with his aides, and complained about his inability to pull levers at the Justice Department that could make the president’s many legal problems go away.
Trying to install a perceived loyalist atop a widening inquiry is a familiar tactic for Mr. Trump, who has been struggling to beat back the investigations that have consumed his presidency. His efforts have exposed him to accusations of obstruction of justice as Robert S. Mueller III, the special counsel, finishes his work investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election.
Look, does anyone hear Mueller talking about “finishing up”? I’m convinced he has the goods and is ready to rock and roll, unfortunately new crimes keep rolling in.