Trump unleashed: New report says the president wants Bolton criminally investigated

[bdamomma]

https://www.alternet.org/2020/02/trump-unleashed-new-report-says-the-president-wants-bolton-criminally-investigated-and-will-go-after-other-critics/?utm_source=&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=3646

snip of article:

As the Senate impeachment trial of Donald Trump comes to a close without enough Republican support to remove him, a new report in Vanity Fair on Monday found that the president is already looking to “go after” his perceived enemies.

Among those reportedly drawing Trump’s ire most are Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY), Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT), and former National Security Adviser John Bolton. But it’s Bolton who may get the brunt of Trump’s unbridled rage.

The report explained:

“Trump has been calling people and telling them to go after Bolton,” a source briefed on the private conversations said. The source added that Trump wants Bolton to be criminally investigated. A person familiar with Trump’s thinking said Trump believes Bolton might have mishandled classified information. According to a former official, the White House is planning to leak White House emails from Bolton that purportedly allege Bolton abused his position at the National Security Council. The official said that West Wing officials have discussed releasing emails “showing [Bolton] was doing pay-to-play,” the official said. A person close to Bolton dismissed the story. “John plays things straight,” the person said.


Let him go after himself, Jerk.

[Iliyah]

1. Very bad move . . .

[Autumn]

2. By all means Trump. Do it.

[samnsara]

3. dare ya!

[virgogal]

4. An "unknown source" is as good as nothing,meaningless.

[JustAnotherGen]

5. And nothing will come of it

We must keep the house.
We must take the senate.

It's that simple.

[33taw]

6. Speak up, Bolton.

[malaise]

7. What this means is that he is guilty as charged

and should be removed from office

[LastLiberal in PalmSprings]

8. Good. We'll finally get Bolton on the witness stand.

[Newest Reality]

9. Optics for the base....

This appears to be more of his acting, (literally) in a way that will appeal to his base while deflecting from his criminality. In other words, the repetition of unsubstantiated implications still goes a long way for low-information voters/citizens who might tend to simply believe what they hear rather than give it some thought, question it, or investigate further.

Trump knows that and maybe he will burn it out by overusing it, but to me, it has little to do with being belligerent or vindictive, which might turn out to be a good cover for the strategy. Of course, we all know this is mostly about him manipulating the body politic like one of those parasites that control their hosts.

When you zoom out, the bigger picture reveals that this country is rather primed for the spectacle and blind to the substance and that is our undoing because we see the results. If you good at acting, you can take over a country these days, and not much else is needed. We see how actors like Limbaugh, Coulter, Maher, etc., etc., have made a career of that and it is actually mere attention getting opinion that is also a lucrative profession.

[scarletwoman]

10. I would assume that Bolton is not without resources for fighting back.

This could be entertaining...

[krissey]

11. Do it. Bolton is arrogant enough that may be all it takes to listen to him sing.

[lame54]

12. Proof that Susan Collins vote was staged...

She's not on the list