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April 4 - April 27, 2020
The universal value of the Trump administration was loyalty—loyalty not to the country but to the president himself.
Two kinds of people went to work for the administration: those who thought Trump was saving the world and those who thought the world needed to be saved from Trump.
Trump has delivered in part on his promise to be a human hand grenade, to raze and remake Washington. He has weakened the regulatory state, toughened border enforcement, and refashioned the federal judiciary, including with two nominations to the Supreme Court
Trump also transformed America’s trade posture, weakening multilateral agreements, which he believed allowed smaller countries to take advantage of the United States,
“Rage and phrenzy will pull down more in half an hour than prudence, deliberation, and foresight can build up in a hundred years.”
First, did the Russian government itself interfere? The overwhelming evidence said yes. Next, did Russia try to help Trump win? Much of the evidence suggested yes. Finally, did Russia’s efforts change the election result? Intelligence leaders argued they lacked the ability to say definitively. But Trump believed that acknowledging Russian intervention effectively tainted his victory.
Frank Figliuzzi, who worked under Mueller as assistant director for counterintelligence, noted that Louis Freeh, who led the bureau for the eight years prior to Mueller, titled his memoir My FBI. “That title alone is something that Mueller would never say,” Figliuzzi said. “Rather, what he would say is, ‘I am a temporary caretaker of the FBI. It’s not my FBI. It’s the American people’s FBI, and I am supposed to run it for a while.’ ” Lisa Monaco, Mueller’s chief of staff, recalled she would never allow the word “I” to appear in drafts of his speeches. “He literally would cross out ‘I’—every
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Former CIA Director John Brennan, whose security clearance you revoked on Wednesday, is one of the finest public servants I have ever known. Few Americans have done more to protect this country than John. He is a man of unparalleled integrity, whose honesty and character have never been in question, except by those who don’t know him. Therefore, I would consider it an honor if you would revoke my security clearance as well, so I can add my name to the list of men and women who have spoken up against your presidency. Like most Americans, I had hoped that when you became president, you would
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Marines revered Mattis, and the guard was no exception. The general had earned his reputation the slow and steady way. A bachelor who never married, the commander made it a tradition that he would volunteer to take a junior officer’s shift on Christmas Day so his subordinates could spend the holiday with their families.
Mueller and his team agreed to language stating that Trump could not be exonerated: “If we had confidence after a thorough investigation of the facts that the President clearly did not commit obstruction of justice, we would so state.”
They asked themselves, could we get a criminal conviction on this evidence and survive an appeal? Their conclusion was unanimous: no.
