Excellent!!! Republican anxiety spikes as Trump faces growing legal and political perils

[RKP5637]

I thought this was a great article.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/siege-warfare-republican-anxiety-spikes-as-trump-faces-growing-legal-and-political-perils/2018/12/08/679b785a-fa59-11e8-863c-9e2f864d47e7_story.html?wpisrc=nl_headlines&wpmm=1

Throughout the 18-month special counsel investigation, Trump has single-handedly spun his own deceptive reality, seeking to sully the reputations of Mueller’s operation and federal law enforcement in an attempt to preemptively discredit their eventual conclusions.

The president has been telling friends that he believes the special counsel is flailing and has found nothing meaningful. “It’s all games and trying to connect dots that don’t really make sense,” one friend said in describing Trump’s view of Mueller’s progress. “Trump is angry, but he’s not really worried.”

But Mueller’s latest court filings offer new evidence of Russian efforts to forge a political alliance with Trump before he became president and detail the extent to which his former aides are cooperating with prosecutors.

Some GOP senators were particularly shaken by this week’s revelation that former national security adviser Michael Flynn had met with Mueller’s team 19 separate times — a distressing signal to them that the probe may be more serious than they had been led to assume, according to senior Republican officials.

Even in the friendliest quarters, there are fresh hints of trouble. Fox News Channel host Tucker Carlson, a reliable prime-time booster of the president, faulted Trump in an interview this week for failing to keep his main campaign promises, understand the legislative process and learn how to govern effectively.

[SFnomad]

1. Blue Wave 2020 - The Sequel n/t

[NastyRiffraff]

2. Losing Tucker was certainly a blow

but if he loses Hannity they'll have to keep sharp objects away from him. Who will he talk to who will tell him he's awesome?

[DonViejo]

3. I'll believe they're "concerned" when one of them...

who will be there after the first of the year, for the new Congress, and starts speaking out. So far, the only 'pukes speaking out are not returning.

[riversedge]

4. Lets hope the WH continues to wing it. Let Trump bluster away. It may

be what helps bring him down.




....“The Democrats are going to weaponize the Mueller report and the president needs a team that can go to the mattresses,” Bannon said. “The president can’t trust the GOP to be there when it counts .?.?. They don’t feel any sense of duty or responsibility to stand with Trump.”

This portrait of the Trump White House at a precarious juncture is based on interviews with 14 administration officials, presidential confidants and allies, some of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity to candidly discuss private exchanges.

Rather than building a war room to manage the intersecting crises as past administrations have done, the Trump White House is understaffed, stuck in a bunker mentality and largely resigned to a plan to wing it. Political and communications operatives are mostly taking their cues from the president and letting him drive the message with his spontaneous broadsides.

“A war room? You serious?” one former White House official said when asked about internal preparations. “They’ve never had one, will never have one. They don’t know how to do one.”

Trump’s decision to change his chief of staff, however, appears to be a recognition that he needs a strong political team in place for the remainder of his first term. The leading candidate for the job is Nick Ayers, Vice President Pence’s chief of staff and an experienced campaign operative known for his political acumen and deep network in the party.

[ThoughtCriminal]

6. Yeah hire Nick Ayers - that will fix it!

Never mind even having a plan "B", Ayers will ensure that we have a strong political team!

Hello Nick?!... Nick?... Hello?... Hello?...

[Garrett78]

5. "a distressing signal to them that the probe may be more serious than they had been led to assume"

I don't buy this notion that Republicans (with a few exceptions, perhaps) were ever under the impression that the probe didn't threaten them. Nor do I believe that Trump isn't worried. Those are talking points to suggest that they have no reason to worry, that they didn't do anything wrong, that their supporters should be angry but not fearful.

But they know the truth in the same way they understand the reality of climate change, all obfuscation and lying aside.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

7. I like this part

“Among most House Republicans, the feeling is, ‘We’re ready for this to be over with. We’re not nervous, but we’re having Mueller fatigue,’?” Meadows said.

But Democrats say they are determined not to let the investigation end prematurely. Rep. Eric Swalwell (Calif.), who sits on the intelligence committee as well as the House Judiciary Committee, said, “Our job is to protect the investigation from the president — whether it’s firing Mueller, intimidating witnesses or obstructing the investigation.”