I promised not to spend an inordinate amount of time on Russia by ensuring I write about middle-class, working-class, and poor economic, health care, and other dinner table issues. This snippet from Morning Joe this morning I believe is important enough to add to today’s narrative.
Morning Joe says FBI pulling the string on Trump
There was an interesting panel discussion on Morning Joe that is worth noting. John Heilemann pointed out that Trump had a calculated reason for the firing of FBI Director James Comey.
“He knew he was going to take a lot of heat for this,” Heilemann said. “But he clearly decided that the heat he is taking now is less than what would happen if there is a full bore independent investigation with James Comey asking for more resources, asking for more prosecutors trying to get to the bottom of what this Russia connection is. And that’s the one place where we can’t dismiss Trump as being wholly irrational. He is making calculated decisions right now.”
After another guest had made an uninformed assessment initially disputing Heilemann, Joe added to Heilmann’s point.
“I agree with John,” Joe Scarborough said. “I don’t think that was an irrational decision. Everybody’s asking, ‘Why did he do it? ‘ He said he did it because he understood that Comey was on to something. … The FBI was onto something. The FBI has started pulling that string. And they are still pulling that string. And where it leads is not just an election issue. It is a criminal issue, and Trump knows that.”
“The reason he did this is not because, he is out of his mind,” Heilemann added. “He did this because as you said, Joe, I think he recognized, he looked over at the FBI and said, ‘This guy James Comey who came to the White House, I asked him,’ if you believe the story, ‘I asked him for his loyalty. He wouldn’t give me his loyalty. Now he is investigating me. He has been since last July. He is now taking daily briefings on this matter rather than weekly. He is now asking for more prosecutors.’ Donald Trump knows what’s at the heart of this. I don’t know what that is. But he does. And he is saying, ‘This guy knows it too.'”
Morning Joe then came in with what I believe is the most dangerous statement for Donald Trump.
“Here is the rub,” Morning Joe said. “They already found the string. And they are pulling on it based on my contacts within the FBI. And they are starting to tug on that string. And they are going to keep going. And it has accelerated because of the way he fired Comey. He knows it.”
Yes, the investigation continues, and Donald Trump will likely have serious legal problems. Progressives must go beyond just Russia and have economic, health care (push for Single-payer Medicare for all), criminal justice, and social justice answers for the 2018 elections as an option for aggrieved Americans whose problems leave them ambivalent to the Russia issue.