Trump’s cannon roars as the latest turn in the Russia investigation has him on the defensive.
PBS News Hour reported that: “Trump’s Twitter cannon roared over the weekend as the latest turn in the Russia investigation seemingly placed him on the defensive. He denied he had ever absolved Russia of meddling in the 2016 U.S. election, despite his plentiful record of voicing doubts on that question.”
Continuing, PBS noted that:
Trump’s rash of tweets followed an indictment released Friday charging 13 Russians with running a massive social media trolling campaign and field operations in the U.S. aimed in part at helping him defeat his 2016 Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton. The case brought by special counsel Robert Mueller provided the most concrete evidence yet of Russian attempts to subvert the election.
At the time of publication of this article, Trump has tweeted a total of 32 tweets and one retweet (a Mike Pence tweet). In the span of just 47 minutes, he posted 6 tweets this morning alone.
And, as is typically the case (typical as in pretty much always), his tweets have little to no regard for the truth – or reality in general.
For instance, he claimed he was fully exonerated in his very first tweet after receiving the news of the Friday indictments.
“Russia started their anti-US campaign in 2014, long before I announced that I would run for President. The results of the election were not impacted. The Trump campaign did nothing wrong – no collusion!” he tweeted – seeming to forget his 2000 campaign for the nomination of the Reform Party. (Trump announced the creation of a presidential exploratory committee during an appearance on “Larry King Live” on October 7, 1999.)
Former criminal investigator and criminal defense attorney, Seth Abramson, weighed in on Trump’s claim, thoroughly debunking it as well.
Trump has lashed out at President Barack Obama, blaming him for Russian election tampering – this after claiming for over a year that he believes Russian President Vladimir Putin when he says that Russia did not interfere in the elections. And of course, that means taking Putin’s word over that of the United States intelligence services, the FBI and the Department of Justice.
He even went so far as to thank former Clinton Special Prosecutor Kenneth Starr in a tweet.
“Thank you to KenStarr, former Independent Counsel, Whitewater, for your insight and powerful words on FISA abuse, Russian meddling etc.” he tweeted. This despite the fact that The New York Times unearthed a 56-page memo published by Starr’s investigation crushing Trump’s notion that he can somehow evade possible prosecution by Robert Mueller’s team.
As The New York Times reported: “The 56-page memo, locked in the National Archives for nearly two decades and obtained by The New York Times under the Freedom of Information Act, amounts to the most thorough government-commissioned analysis rejecting a generally held view that presidents are immune from prosecution while in office.
Elaborating, The New York Times reported that Starr’s memo concluded with the following statement:
“It is proper, constitutional, and legal for a federal grand jury to indict a sitting president for serious criminal acts that are not part of, and are contrary to, the president’s official duties. In this country, no one, even President Clinton, is above the law.”
That document, released to The New York Times in July 2017, takes on new relevance in the wake of Trump’s Twitter meltdown.
The Palmer Report may have put it best with a Monday tweet, stating: “Donald Trump’s day so far: – Attacks Oprah – Attacks 60 Minutes – Attacks HR McMaster – Attacks the FBI – Attacks Adam Schiff – Attacks CNN – Attacks a 400 pound hacker – Attacks Obama – Attacks Hillary – Doesn’t attack Putin or the Russians.”
Donald Trump's day so far:
– Attacks Oprah
– Attacks 60 Minutes
– Attacks HR McMaster
– Attacks the FBI
– Attacks Adam Schiff
– Attacks CNN
– Attacks a 400 pound hacker
– Attacks Obama
– Attacks Hillary– Doesn't attack Putin or the Russians
— Palmer Report (@PalmerReport) February 19, 2018
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