Newsweek: "Cornered" Trump Could Curtail Russia Investigation

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

Just a day after President Donald Trump warned the Justice Department investigating possible ties between the Trump 2016 presidential campaign and Russia not to cross a “ red line ” and start looking into his family business, a report suggested the U.S. special counsel leading the probe did just that.

Trump told the New York Times that he would not accept an investigation into his family businesses. But today a source revealed that the special investigator is looking into a variety of Trump businesses, and their interactions with Russian banks and tycoons.

The areas of investigation, according to an unnamed source who spoke with Bloomberg, include: Russian purchases of apartments in Trump buildings, Trump’s involvement in a SoHo hotel with Russian associates, the 2013 Miss Universe pageant in Moscow and Trump’s sale of a Florida mansion to a Russian oligarch.

He has lashed out at Attorney General Jeff Sessions and signaled there could be repercussions. What happens next is anyone’s best guess. Trump’s mercurial decision-making process is hard to predict and somewhat dependent on how successful his political advisors are at convincing him that to get rid of more people would constitute political suicide. But constitutional lawyers reached by Newsweek say the President could fire or sideline Attorney General Jeff Sessions, and at least temporarily impede special investigator Robert Mueller – if not actually make him go away.

“Trump has found himself now painted into a corner and it’s a very dangerous position for the country,” says Norm Eisen, a lawyer with Brookings Institution. “But the jam he finds himself in is one that’s familiar to others - going all the way back to Nixon’s Saturday night massacre - who have tried to control the operation of the American system of checks and balances from oval office. The system is resilient even with the abdication of Republican oversight from Congress."

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/cornered-trump-could-curtail-russia-investigation/ar-AAovSbp?li=BBnbcA1&ocid=edgsp

[rzemanfl]

1. This says a lot-

"The system is resilient even with the abdication of Republican oversight from Congress." K&R

[malaise]

2. Can't curtail shit

Down he goes

[VOX]

3. BIG question: What will it take for the GOP to finally hit the ejector seat?

With Nixon, it was the firing of Cox, et al, that really got the ball rolling. But this group of sheep can't even find their own butts. At what point do they finally break ranks and come out as Americans, and not Republicans?

[janx]

7. They will do so if and when

their jobs are threatened--when the people they represent call for action. They should be thinking about it now, as the Republican party is about to implode and needs to reinvent itself.

[Blue_true]

9. Don't fool yourself.

With Nixon, Democrats had House and Senate majorities. We don't have that now. My guess is Trump will literally have to shoot someone before republicans act. That is why 2018 is so important for Democrats and the country.

[VOX]

10. I'm as cynical as they come.

So I'm rarely fooled, especially by Republicans. I've lived in several "repeats" of this lousy seat-of-the-pants show. First presidential vote was for McGovern. Vintage!

On edit, a belated welcome to DU. Glad you're here!

[uponit7771]

11. Trump hugging a brown skinned person on TV ... anything other than that they're ride or die

[Hamlette]

12. still took more than 10 months after he fired Cox for him to resign

Cox fired Oct 20 1973
August 5, 1974 smoking gun tape released (Nixon tells Halderman, in June 1972, to get CIA to tell FBI to stop investigating Watergate)
August 8 1974 Nixon resigns.

I was at my Dad's on morning of August 8 when the contents of the tape hit the headlines in London, I asked my Dad if Nixon should resign. He was a staunch republican but he admitted he should. I flew home that day in time to see Nixon resign.

[Samantha]

13. When they realize their own jobs and futures (and health insurance) are at risk

they will throw Trump overboard. But not until then. Love of country is not on their hit parade. Love is self is what does it for them.

Sam

[Thinkingabout]

4. It is a dudgeon created by Trump, it is nasty, dark and corrupt. Now he does not want

to have his corruption investigated, the time to have been concerned was when he was developing the relationships with the Russians. They are not our friends, never have been and especially with Putin as the leader. Another dumb move by Trump, he had to go begging for money because he destroyed all of his financial friends in the US because he just did not pay.

[MiddleClass]

5. Looking into, Russian investment, Trump Soho, 100,000,000 dollar mansion in Florida,

All Russian money, going into Trump American properties.

This is what I was hoping for all the way back when Comey announced the FBI investigation.

It's been a dream. The exact way it's gone now.

I read about these 3 things back when everyone was listening to James Comey's

"Hillary Clinton was very careless."

[wishstar]

6. All Mueller's investigations though are delving into Trump business' 'Russian connections

Trump said that the red line would be crossed if investigation delved into business matters that are not Russia related, so Mueller is not crossing that red line if all of Trump's business dealings that Mueller's team is investigating involve Russians.

[janx]

8. True--

but we don't know that all of Mueller's investigations are concentrating on Trump's financial connections with Russia. It's a good educated guess, but that investigation is tight-lipped for a reason, yes?

There has been a lot of talk about Trump's being compromised, not only financially (although the questionable investments surely started the ball rolling).