Does Bannon believe Mueller could bring down Trump? By Paul Waldman
September 11 at 1:27 PM
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Heres the key exchange with Charlie Rose:
BANNON: I dont think theres any doubt that if James Comey had not been fired we would not have a special counsel, yes.
ROSE: So we would not have the Mueller investigation.
BANNON: We would not have the Mueller investigation, we would not have the Mueller investigation in the breadth that clearly Mr. Mueller is going.
Because I think directionally its a very different investigation.
Keep that idea of the breadth that clearly Mr. Mueller is going in the back of your head. Now heres more:
ROSE: Someone said to me that you described the firing of James Comey youre a student of history as the biggest mistake in political history.
BANNON: That probably would be too bombastic even for me, but maybe modern political history.
ROSE: The firing of James Comey was the biggest mistake in modern political history.
BANNON: I think, if youre saying that thats associated with me, then Ill leave it at that.
In modern political history, if were just sticking to presidential scandals (and not policy decisions such as George W. Bush deciding to invade Iraq), then we have some pretty big mistakes. Theres Bill Clintons decision to have an affair with Monica Lewinsky. Theres Ronald Reagans decision to sell arms to terrorists so the profits could be used to fund an illegal war in Central America. Then there are any number of decisions Richard Nixon made authorizing a coverup of the Watergate break-in, putting a recording system in the Oval Office that led him to resign.
If firing Comey was bigger than all of them, what does that mean? It can only mean that it could end Trumps presidency. Anything less would make it a big mistake, but not the biggest. Bannons unspoken logical chain goes like this: Trump fires Comey, which leads to the appointment of a special counsel, which leads to the discovery of terribly damaging information about Trump, which brings him down, either through resignation or impeachment.
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https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2017/09/11/does-steve-bannon-believe-robert-mueller-could-bring-down-donald-trump