Great Read- Trump's Nuclear Option

[DemocratSinceBirth]

It’s much clearer now why Donald Trump has been furious with Attorney General Jeff Sessions ever since he recused himself from the Russia investigation in March 2017. That recusal set in motion events that eventually resulted in deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein’s appointment of special counsel Robert Mueller to investigate Russian election meddling and “ any matters that arose or may arise directly from the investigation.”

Once the straight-arrow Mueller started sniffing around Trump’s campaign, he discovered lots of criminal behavior that had nothing to do with Russian influence operations. This week yielded the most dramatic fruits yet: The conviction of Trump’s campaign manager, Paul Manafort, for bank and tax fraud, and a guilty plea by Trump’s personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, for fraud and campaign violations, including some that directly implicate the president.

Manafort and Cohen would likely be free today had the Russia investigation stayed within traditional Justice Department channels using traditional Justice Department resources. But once Rosenstein appointed Mueller, the grinding logic of a single-minded, heavily-resourced, subpoena-wielding independent prosecutor pursuing every avenue toward a determined end took over.

That logic led the independent counsel in the 1990s from Bill and Hillary Clinton’s Arkansas land investments, to the downfall of associate attorney general Webster Hubbell for law firm fraud, to President Clinton’s impeachment for lying about sexual relations with an intern. It has now led Mueller from a Russian counterintelligence probe, to Manafort’s lavish wardrobe, to Cohen’s payoff for Trump to Stormy Daniels. And Mueller’s just getting started.

https://www.weeklystandard.com/jack-goldsmith/jail-time-for-paul-manafort-and-michael-cohen-mean-donald-trump-running-scared

It's fair to characterize Goldsmith as a conservative Never Trumper

[irresistable]

1. In the Cohen case, IMO...more credit goes to Stormy Daniels and Michael Avenatti.

Plus, the NY state probe may be the gift that keeps on giving.

I don't think that you can pull on any Trump string without unraveling more illegality.

[Sugarcoated]

2. What's the source?

No link therre

[Brother Buzz]

3. The money quote to ponder

If you think the wounded, cornered Trump won’t choose some version of this nuclear option, you haven’t been paying attention. Trump believes in his bones that razing the institutions around him brings him advantage. And even if that belief proves false in this context, he will enjoy trying to burn them down even as he is consumed.

[Martin Eden]

4. "independent prosecutor pursuing every avenue toward a determined end"

That quote is an accusation which implies Mueller is not being objective or honest in following the evidence where it leads, pursuant to justice.