Going to the Mattresses<\/p>\n
(So What Could Trump Do, Part II)<\/p>\n
No, no, no! No more! Not this time, consiglieri. No more meetings, no more discussions, no more Sollozzo tricks. You give ’em one message: I want Sollozzo. If not, it’s all-out war: we go to the mattresses.<\/em><\/p>\n Sonny Corelone speaking to Tom Hagen in The Godfather<\/em><\/p>\n Sean Spicer is out as Director of Communications: Anthony Scarmucci is in. Marc Kasowicz is \u201ctaking a reduced role\u201d as the President\u2019s Attorney for the Russia Investigation: Ty Cobb is in. Attorney General Sessions has been \u201cdisloyal\u201d to the President by recusing himself from the Russian investigation. The President\u2019s legal team is \u201clooking into\u201d Special Counsel Mueller\u2019s team for conflicts and for exceeding the \u201cbounds\u201d of the Special Counsel\u2019s investigation. They also are researching what the President\u2019s power to pardon entails.<\/p>\n It looks like the President is getting ready to \u201cgo to the mattresses.\u201d Spicer, a long time part of the Republican establishment and friend of Chief of Staff Reince Priebus is leaving his White House position as Press Secretary and Director of Communications. His replacement is the ultimate \u201cTrump loyalist\u201d, Anthony Scarmucci, Wall Street entrepreneur. Scarmucci\u2019s first words are: \u201cI love the President. I am serving the President, the President\u2019s agenda.\u201d Priebus days may well be numbered as well.<\/p>\n Going to the mattresses: the President is getting ready to go to war over the Russia investigation. He\u2019s not looking for expertise in issues, he\u2019s really not interested in his ongoing issues agenda: he\u2019s looking for loyalists who will stick with him through the fight that is about to begin. Let\u2019s look into the crystal ball to see what may occur.<\/p>\n Trump would like to fire Sessions, not for disloyalty, but because Session\u2019s recusal has rendered him unable to defend Trump. If Trump could fire Sessions, and appoint a new Attorney General who is clear of Russian connections, he would. Then he could order that Attorney General to fire Special Counsel Mueller. However, the US Senate would have to approve that appointment, and it seems unlikely that they would do so if the appointee wouldn\u2019t commit to keeping Mueller.<\/p>\n So Sessions, stays in the job. Trump will wait until the Special Counsel investigation gets into the Trump business finances, then claim Mueller is out of bounds (and bring out any \u201cdirt\u201d his legal team has found.) Rod Rosenstein, Deputy Attorney General, is ordered to fire Mueller, and refuses. The next in line, the Solicitor General and the Associate Attorney General, also refuse, and all three are fired. The next in order is Dana Boente, US Attorney of the Eastern District of Virginia, and late acting Attorney General. He becomes acting Deputy Attorney General, fires Mueller, then heads back to Alexandria.<\/p>\n The Mueller investigation returns to the FBI, and the Special Counsel\u2019s team goes back into private practice. Now it\u2019s up to the Department of Justice to bring charges brought by the FBI, a much less likely prospect.<\/p>\n Meanwhile the Congressional committees are up in arms, claiming that Trump is obstructing justice. Trump uses Twitter to rouse his base, trying to keep the Republicans in line. Maybe that works, maybe not. Meanwhile the committees try to lever Manafort, Flynn, Don Junior and Jared Kushner to testify: trading immunity for their incriminating statements. The President \u201cdouble-jumps\u201d the committees by granting all of them pardons, telling the American people; \u201c\u2026this is the only way to end the witch hunt and get on with Making America Great Again.\u201d Again, maybe this works, maybe not. If both of these moves work though, the President is clear until the elections of 2018.<\/p>\n Come 2018, if Democrats gain a majority in the House, impeachment would definitely be in the air. Should the House pass a bill of impeachment, it goes to the Senate. Two-thirds must agree to remove the President. If Republicans stay \u201cin-line\u201d then Trump survives, if they determine that he must go, then he resigns (saving the country the \u201cagony\u201d of an impeachment trial, and probably with an agreement with Pence that he receives a Presidential pardon.)<\/p>\n This strategy achieves several objectives for the Trump team. First, it will take years, if ever, for the final act of Presidential removal to occur. It delays, fulfilling the daily goal of \u201csurvive til tomorrow.\u201d And, if Trump is able to hold his base, he may well be able to hold just enough of the Republican members of Congress to run the table and stay until 2020.<\/p>\n The question will ultimately fall to the Republican leaders of the Congress.\u00a0\u00a0 If they see that the conservative agenda items they have been dreaming about since 2008 are no longer an option, they may decide to cut Trump lose and try again with a Pence Presidency. Or, and one would hope, if they see that there is evidence of Trump\u2019s illegal acts, perhaps they will stand up and do what\u2019s right for the country for the right reason. They will show the courage of being more than just loyal to the President or the party, but loyal to the Constitution and the United States of America.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"