Ugly new details about Trumpâs fury over Russia probe
President Donald Trump  says the Justice Department is politically biased against  him . Lawfare Deputy managing editor Quinta Jurecic presents the facts of the investigation  Trump  calls "fake news." (Kate Woodsome Adriana Usero/The Washington Post)
Former White House chief of staff Reince Priebus has given a remarkable interview published by Vanity Fair that is getting some attention because it confirms once again that the most powerful person in the world is a raging  abusive megalomaniac. We learn that  President Trump  erupted at  his  staff over accurate media coverage of  his  paltry inaugural crowd; that officials competed for the title of most obsequious suck-up to  Trump ; and that  Trump  once commanded Priebus to swat a fly.
But buried in the piece is something potentially more important: revelations that shed light on Trumpâs state of mind at key moments throughout  his  efforts to hamstring the investigation into  Trump  campaign collusion with Russian efforts to sabotage our democracy.
The piece tells us that very early on   Trump  began to âlash out wildlyâ at law enforcement officials who were in a position to investigate  his  administration. Priebus and White House counsel Donald McGahn tried to stall the firing of FBI Director James B. Comey. But Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosensteinâs memo  Vanity Fair reports  gave  Trump  the âpretextâ to go forward.
The word âpretextâ is not used by Priebus. But the piece relies on extensive cooperation from Priebus  which suggests that this may be how Priebus viewed it. As youâll recall  that âpretextâ was Rosensteinâs memo excoriating Comey over the FBIâs mishandling of the Hillary Clinton probe â a memo  Trump  ordered up in a meeting just before firing Comey. If Priebus really viewed this as a âpretext â or believed  Trump  did  youâd think that would be of interest to special counsel Robert S. Mueller III  who is probing whether Trumpâs efforts to derail the investigation constituted obstruction of justice.
âWe already had some evidence that the Rosenstein memo was a pretext in the sense that  Trump  used it as an excuse to fire Comey for other reasons â Eric Posner  a University of Chicago law professor who has co-authored a useful paper on presidential obstruction of justice  told me this morning. âThe material in the Vanity Fair piece reinforces that impression . . . itâs another element that Mueller will want to look at.â
Mueller interviewed Priebus in October. âI suspect that Priebus has already been asked about  Trump âs motivation for firing Comey and almost firing Sessions â Posner told me  referring to Attorney General Jeff Sessions.
The Vanity Fair piece  which is adapted from a forthcoming book by Chris Whipple  offers new details on Trumpâs almost-firing of Sessions as well. It reports that  Trump  subjected Sessions to an abusive tirade for failing to protect  him  from the investigation  which was already known.
But the piece adds more. After  Trump  ordered Mueller fired in June by his White House counsel (who refused to carry out Trumpâs directive)   Trump  ordered Priebus to âget Sessionsâ resignation flat out â according to a White House insider. That insider quotes  Trump  saying to Priebus: âDonât give me any bullsâ. Donât try to slow me down like you always do. Get the resignation of Jeff Sessions.â
Priebus talked  Trump  out of it. But if this is right  it shows again that  Trump  may have wanted Sessions out and to replace  him  with an attorney general who would constrain the Mueller probe where Sessions did not. After all   Trump  allegedly had just ordered Mueller fired but had failed to get  his  wish. It will not be easy to prove  Trump  obstructed justice â it will require showing that  he  acted with âcorrupt intentâ and an âimproper purpose â such as protecting  himself  and  his  associates from accountability â but this adds to a pattern that appears to shed light on Trumpâs state of mind in this regard.
âThereâs often a tendency for observers to think that  Trump  is just out of control â Posner told me. âThis [Vanity Fair interview] gave more of an impression of him being instrumentally rational in getting what he wants. The more you think that  Trump  is acting pursuant to a clear plan in  his  mind to protect  himself  and  his  family from these investigations  the more youâll think that  it âs obstruction of justice.â
â He  didnât just scream at people and leave it at that â Posner added of  Trump . â He  did all kinds of things over many months to try to derail the investigation. In a few cases  he  was deterred by  his  aides. But in many cases  he  was able to act. That strengthens the argument that  he  acted  as the law requires  with improper purpose or corrupt intent. It means  he  intended to block this investigation because it threatened  him  politically.â
To be sure  there is a separate set of questions over whether a president can be held criminally liable for obstruction of justice. But this isnât just about that. Itâs also about learning what really happened for the purposes of basic accountability.  Mueller  could end up establishing a pattern of very serious or potentially impeachable misconduct. This would have important political significance (whether or not congressional Republicans act on it  which they probably wonât). And this new interview suggests thatâs a more likely outcome.
* McCONNELL URGES TRUMP NOT TO FIRE KELLY: Despite evidence that Chief of Staff John F. Kelly knew of domestic abuse allegations against Rob Porter but did nothing  the Washington Examiner reports that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is privately urging  Trump  to keep him:
A source familiar with the discussion told the Washington Examiner . . . that McConnell advised  Trump  during a recent phone call to avoid making any significant changes to his senior-level staff . . . the Kentucky Republican later told associates that because of Trumpâs mercurial nature  heâs unsure whether the president will listen to him and others who are advocating for Kelly to stay put.
These victories are also the product of a demobilization of  Trumpâs  own constituency. The hardest of the hardcore  Trump  loyalists are still likely to cast ballots this year. But he also drew support from loyal Republicans and white working-class swing voters. Many of them were not enthralled by him but couldnât abide Hillary Clinton â or were just plain angry. Itâs hard to imagine theyâre overjoyed with the past 13 months.
[TGT] says the Justice Department is politically biased against   [TGT]  . Lawfare Deputy managing editor Quinta Jurecic presents the facts of the investigation   [TGT]   calls "fake news." (Kate Woodsome Adriana Usero/The Washington Post)
Former White House chief of staff Reince Priebus has given a remarkable interview published by Vanity Fair that is getting some attention because it confirms once again that the most powerful person in the world is a raging  abusive megalomaniac. We learn that   [TGT] erupted at   [TGT]   staff over accurate media coverage of   [TGT]   paltry inaugural crowd; that officials competed for the title of most obsequious suck-up to  [TGT]  ; and that   [TGT]   once commanded Priebus to swat a fly.
But buried in the piece is something potentially more important: revelations that shed light on Trumpâs state of mind at key moments throughout  his  efforts to hamstring the investigation into   [TGT]   campaign collusion with Russian efforts to sabotage our democracy.
The piece tells us that very early on    [TGT] began to âlash out wildlyâ at law enforcement officials who were in a position to investigate  his  administration. Priebus and White House counsel Donald McGahn tried to stall the firing of FBI Director James B. Comey. But Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosensteinâs memo  Vanity Fair reports  gave   [TGT] the âpretextâ to go forward.
The word âpretextâ is not used by Priebus. But the piece relies on extensive cooperation from Priebus  which suggests that this may be how Priebus viewed it. As youâll recall  that âpretextâ was Rosensteinâs memo excoriating Comey over the FBIâs mishandling of the Hillary Clinton probe â a memo   [TGT] ordered up in a meeting just before firing Comey. If Priebus really viewed this as a âpretext â or believed   [TGT]   did   [TGT]  think that would be of interest to special counsel Robert S. Mueller III  who is probing whether Trumpâs efforts to derail the investigation constituted obstruction of justice.
âWe already had some evidence that the Rosenstein memo was a pretext in the sense that   [TGT]   used it as an excuse to fire Comey for other reasons â Eric Posner  a University of Chicago law professor who has co-authored a useful paper on presidential obstruction of justice  told me this morning. âThe material in the Vanity Fair piece reinforces that impression . . . itâs another element that Mueller will want to look at.â
Mueller interviewed Priebus in October. âI suspect that Priebus has already been asked about   [TGT]  âs motivation for firing Comey and almost firing Sessions â Posner told me  referring to Attorney General Jeff Sessions.
The Vanity Fair piece  which is adapted from a forthcoming book by Chris Whipple  offers new details on Trumpâs almost-firing of Sessions as well. It reports that   [TGT] subjected Sessions to an abusive tirade for failing to protect   [TGT]   from the investigation  which was already known.
But the piece adds more. After   [TGT] ordered Mueller fired in June by his White House counsel (who refused to carry out Trumpâs directive)    [TGT] ordered Priebus to âget Sessionsâ resignation flat out â according to a White House insider. That insider quotes   [TGT]   saying to Priebus: âDonât give me any bullsâ. Donât try to slow me down like you always do. Get the resignation of Jeff Sessions.â
Priebus talked   [TGT]   out of it. But if this is right  it shows again that   [TGT] may have wanted Sessions out and to replace   [TGT]   with an attorney general who would constrain the Mueller probe where Sessions did not. After all    [TGT] allegedly had just ordered Mueller fired but had failed to get   [TGT]   wish. It will not be easy to prove   [TGT] obstructed justice â  [TGT]  will require showing that   [TGT]   acted with âcorrupt intentâ and an âimproper purpose â such as protecting   [TGT]   and   [TGT]   associates from accountability â but this adds to a pattern that appears to shed light on Trumpâs state of mind in this regard.
âThereâs often a tendency for observers to think that  Trump  is just out of control â Posner told me. âThis [Vanity Fair interview] gave more of an impression of him being instrumentally rational in getting what he wants. The more you think that   [TGT] is acting pursuant to a clear plan in   [TGT]   mind to protect   [TGT]   and   [TGT]   family from these investigations  the more youâll think that  it âs obstruction of justice.â
â  [TGT]   didnât just scream at people and leave it at that â Posner added of  [TGT]  . â He  did all kinds of things over many months to try to derail the investigation. In a few cases  he  was deterred by  his  aides. But in many cases  he  was able to act. That strengthens the argument that  he  acted  as the law requires  with improper purpose or corrupt intent. It means  he  intended to block this investigation because it threatened  him  politically.â
To be sure  there is a separate set of questions over whether a president can be held criminally liable for obstruction of justice. But this isnât just about that. Itâs also about learning what really happened for the purposes of basic accountability.  Mueller  could end up establishing a pattern of very serious or potentially impeachable misconduct. This would have important political significance (whether or not congressional Republicans act on it  which they probably wonât). And this new interview suggests thatâs a more likely outcome.
* McCONNELL URGES TRUMP NOT TO FIRE KELLY: Despite evidence that Chief of Staff John F. Kelly knew of domestic abuse allegations against Rob Porter but did nothing  the Washington Examiner reports that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is privately urging  Trump  to keep him:
A source familiar with the discussion told the Washington Examiner . . . that McConnell advised   [TGT]   during a recent phone call to avoid making any significant changes to his senior-level staff . . . the Kentucky Republican later told associates that because of Trumpâs mercurial nature  heâs unsure whether the president will listen to him and others who are advocating for Kelly to stay put.
These victories are also the product of a demobilization of  Trumpâs  own constituency. The hardest of the hardcore   [TGT]   loyalists are still likely to cast ballots this year. But he also drew support from loyal Republicans and white working-class swing voters. Many of them were not enthralled by him but couldnât abide Hillary Clinton â or were just plain angry. Itâs hard to imagine theyâre overjoyed with the past 13 months.