Clear and Present Danger
This morning General Michael Flynn will appear in Federal District Court to plead guilty to a single count of lying to the FBI. This is a felony count, carrying a possible prison sentence of five years. General Flynn was exposed to many more charges, including acting as a foreign agent and conspiracy to kidnap. He clearly has made a deal.
Michael Flynn was the man beside Donald Trump from early in the campaign. He travelled with Trump, he spent evenings and days with Trump, he advised Trump, and he spoke for Trump (remember – “…that’s right, lock her up!”) Unlike Paul Manafort, who spent a brief few months in the campaign, Flynn was there near the beginning, through the campaign, the transition, and moved into the White House. Whatever Trump knew about contact, conspiracy and cooperation with Russia; Flynn probably knows.
Trump has risked a lot for Trump. He asked multiple leaders of the US intelligence family to “go easy” of Flynn, including then FBI Director James Comey. The basis of possible obstruction of justice charges against the President revolve around Mike Flynn.
This is already a “bad week” for the President. He blew up negotiations on the debt ceiling with the Democratic Congressional Leadership by a tweet, his precious tax cut (targeted towards corporations and the one percent) is on the rocks in the Senate, and he re-tweeted racist and neo-fascists videos, getting chewed out by the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He has made it clear that he is going to fire his Secretary of State. And of course, North Korea launched a more powerful Intercontinental Ballistic Missile.
News sources have also reported that the Trump Administration is considering “out-sourcing” US intelligence operations to private contractors, including possible renditions of foreign nationals.[1]
And there has been a growing drumbeat in the media questioning Trump’s mental state. His tweets, his public comments, and even the background statements from the White House (Trump lawyers are telling him the investigation is going to end by Christmas to keep him happy;) all have raised question about the condition of his mind.
And now, Flynn has cut a deal. We don’t know what he will say, but Donald Trump does.
What is the clear and present danger? As the pressure of the Mueller investigation has grown greater, Trumps’ actions have become more erratic. In a world seemingly poised on the brink of a nuclear war in North Korea, where the US is considering using private contractors to do our spying, and where the President sees no problem in putting his stamp of approval on racist (and unverified) videos; we don’t know what he will do next. He is the master of distraction: to what lengths could he go to distract his base from this?
For those of us who have been holding our breath for the Mueller Investigation to reach the top, this is the beginning of the end (though the end is still a long, long way away.) But THE PRESIDENT still controls the levers of American might. While it may be we can see the light at the end of the tunnel, it doesn’t mean the tunnel won’t collapse before we get there. Hang on.
[1] https://www.buzzfeed.com/aramroston/trump-administration-mulls-private-rendition?utm_term=.wvNyrPZaL7#.spElvKX6wa
