Trump's media firewall is collapsing as the Russia probe gets closer

[DonViejo]

By Callum Borchers May 19 at 3:16 PM

A current, senior White House adviser — not merely another former campaign aide or distant associate of President Trump — has been identified by federal investigators as a significant person of interest in a probe aimed at determining whether Trump's political team colluded with Russia to meddle in the 2016 election.

Let that sink in.

Among many things, the focus on someone close to the president means that the firewall protecting him from the full heat of media scrutiny is crumbling. Though he complained this week that “no politician in history … has been treated worse or more unfairly,” the reality is that Trump has been somewhat insulated by journalists’ inability to show that the FBI investigation touches him or anyone on his White House staff directly.

Trump has insisted that he is not in the FBI’s crosshairs, claiming last week that the agency’s former director, James B. Comey, told him on three separate occasions that he is not a target. And the White House has attempted to distance itself from known targets such as Paul Manafort, Roger Stone and Carter Page. At one point, White House press secretary Sean Spicer told reporters that Manafort, who chaired Trump’s campaign before being replaced by Kellyanne Conway, “played a very limited role for a very limited amount of time.”

more
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2017/05/19/trumps-media-firewall-is-collapsing-as-the-russia-probe-gets-closer/?utm_term=.6d01a4d0a434

[elmac]

1. he will do something really, really stupid

or outrageous during his trip and the media will have a new, shiny object to take their attention.

[BainsBane]

13. It's past that

This is a problem that isn't going away. Firing Comey set all of this off, and now it's too late for him to fix it.

[murielm99]

2. I hope it is Bannon.

The man is such scum.

[TheBlackAdder]

6. I hope it's Bannon, but I'm not sure he's a Useful Idiot. Jared's already fucked w/int'l dealings.

[mountain grammy]

3. Ivanka.

[Jopin Klobe]

4. "Trump's media firewall is collapsing as the Russia probe gets closer" ...

... please ... oh, please-please-please let there be a probe ...

[Johnny2X2X]

5. Not FOX

All they are talking about right now is the Liberal Media bias. Wow. Flipped over there to see if this latest bombshell was getting coverage. Nope.

[NoMoreRepugs]

9. The momentum of whats happening will

eventually overwhelm the Fox script.... we just need to be patient.

[adigal]

7. Just saw on Twitter that it is Kuscher, NY Mag said they have four sources

Link to tweet

HAHAHAHA!! This is even better than Bannon.

[Blue_Adept]

8. I really do believe that Trump is oblivious to it all in terms of what was done

I don't think he was consciously involved in all that seems to be slowly revealing itself. He's just a patsy. The occams razor thing really comes down to that we know based on the last four months alone that the man IS a moron. A functional illiterate that has skated through for so many reasons.

That doesn't mean he won't pay the price. The buck stops with him and he's the man in charge, did the hiring and firing and all that.

But what we'll see is such a complex web of layers of complicity by so many others that it'll be staggering. Putin truly compromised the Republican party in so many ways for so long in order to "win" that the Republicans were oblivious due to their "get Obama" phase.

[murielm99]

10. Oe does not have to be intelligent

to be a willing crook and thief. Trump is responsible. I believe he knows right from wrong, and should pay the price for his dishonesty.

If this is Kushner, he can join his daddy as a cellmate, the little shit.

[Caliman73]

11. I don't think he is a mastermind, but I don't think he's a patsy either.

He is a crooked opportunist. Not smart, but like a junior wise guy. He know's how crooked things work and has been involved in shady dealings since he was learning from daddy.

I do think that he is in over his head on this one. This is not New York (mobbed up) real estate. This is international espionage. He probably thought it would be an easy score for him and his family, and that his money would protect him, but this is the big leagues where people are willing to risk everything for their country and people are watching.

He is too stupid to be directing things but he is not just sitting idly by while things are happening either.

[Honeycombe8]

12. I disagree on that, because this sort of thing is what he has done all his adult life.

He's a scammer, deep to his knees on double timing and dirty dealing. That's what he does. This would be something that he would definitely be in on, and maybe not realize that it's treasonous. Because he doesn't think about country or laws, except to hide illegality. He thinks of WINNING.

He sees it as a game. Say anything, and do whatever is necessary, to WIN.

We can see from the recent loose lips with the Russians that he does indeed speak freely with them about secrets, bad mouthing Americans, whatever. I can see him speaking freely with Russians, asking them to unload to the public on the email thing. He would be smiling while he said it.

Think how similar that is to asking Comey to drop the Flynn investigation.

He's not savvy about the government, people skills, politics. But he certainly is savvy about winning, and he has a history of being ruthless and underhanded. That's who he is.

[Cosmocat]

14. No

Russia culled him as an asset a LONG time ago, and they propped him up financially while stoking his ego. He's full on board with all of it.