Let’s break the rule of news and analysis of hooking readers first, and then slowly giving out the key facts.
The Guardian’s report on excerpts from the upcoming book, Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House by Michael Wolff claim that generally pro-Trump, right-of-center Breitbart’s Steve Bannon’s called the Trump Tower meeting between the president’s son and a group of Russians during the 2016 election campaign as “treasonous,” “sh-t,” and “unpatriotic.” It’s salacious, and already being used by anti-Trumpers to once more derail his pro-growth agenda.
The White House has called the book, trashy tabloid fiction.
Stocks rose today, even in the wake of this bombshell and cross fire.
The Fire and Fury quotes are contradicted by prior Bannon quotes last year, that the Russia collusion is “a total farce.” There’s more than enough conflicting claims between what the book teasers allege, and what some have previously said to cast doubts.
But since the market’s today weren’t shaken, the majority of Americans – including Trump supporters – can rest easy. Had this happened before the passage of the tax cuts and jobs bill? That might have been a different story.
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Why Isn’t This a Bigger Deal? The Details
For those who need a reminder, Democratic Harvard Law emeritus attorney, Alan Dershowitz, has said several times in 2017 that even if the allegations in so-called ‘Russia-gate’ were true, they would not be illegal.
The legal scholar has said, it would look bad, but isn’t illegal.
That’s why the ABC News’ Bryan Ross report – that was later retracted/corrected, and led to that reporter’s suspension – should never have roiled the markets in the first place. ‘There is no there, there’ in so-called Russiagate, as the Daily Business News has reported for most of 2017.
What may have there, there is Clinton campaign collusion with federal officials, a British intelligence operative, and Russians.
That doesn’t mean that the Muller team won’t attempt to use this saucy claim against the president’s son in the president’s tower. Ditto Democrats, and the anti-Trump media. Left of center CNN, CNBC and others are already on this issue, ‘big league.’
The official White House press briefing today on this topic, is below.
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Paul Manafort Strikes Back, Sues Mueller, DOJ
- “The actions of DOJ and Mr. Rosenstein in issuing the Appointment Order, and Mr. Mueller’s actions pursuant to the authority the Order granted him, were arbitrary, capricious, and not in accordance with the law,” the suit reads, per CNBC.
- “The actions of DOJ and Mr. Rosenstein in issuing the Appointment Order, and Mr. Mueller’s actions pursuant to the authority the Order granted him, were arbitrary, capricious, and not in accordance with the law,” the suit reads, the left-of-center outlet reported.
Paul Manafort, per left-of-center video report from Bloomberg.
Paul Manafort, from right of center, Fox Business.
Tainted?
Alan Dershowitz is among those who’ve cast doubts about the integrity of the Mueller investigation.
So while one can easily dispute left-of-center CBS’ claim that ‘Democrats and Republicans agree’ that special counsel Mueller is ‘beyond reproach,’ their video spotlights just one of several issues that have cast doubt about his objectivity and leanings.
Bottom Lines?
There are reasons to believe that this could linger for a time. But based upon the initial reports, the non-reactions of the markets, and experts like Alan Dershowitz who’ve consistently said there is no there there on the ‘Russia-gate’ narrative, while inconvenient, this may not have much impact on the Trump agenda.
That said, stay tuned for developments on the administration’s ongoing efforts to free the economy for a more robust 2018. ## (News, analysis, commentary.)
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