After US President Donald Trump's firing of FBI Director James Comey, the Administration suffered a series of hammer blows over the past week.
Trump is now on an overseas trip, but the pressure at home will not let up. The US media is deep into a digging frenzy, and Comey has said he will publicly testify to the Senate.
The Russia probe will not go away. The infant Trump Administration is being consumed by it at the moment.
Some broad themes are emerging: - Trump in comments has directly linked the firing to the investigation on Russian meddling in the 2016 election. - That means the President is being accused of obstruction of justice. - The investigation overall has moved from an intelligence probe to possibly a criminal one. - Impeachment is still in all likelihood a longer-term possibility. But it is being openly spoken of. The threat of it, combined with a possible obstruction of justice legal case, means Trump has been politically weakened. - The President is like the king on a chessboard, cornered by media reports, looming legal threats, Democrat opposition, a growing number of Republicans speaking out, intelligence leaks, bad general poll numbers and a lack of credibility. - His fate is essentially in the hands of the Republican-controlled Congress. Could moves by Deputy Attorney-General Rod Rosenstein and Vice-President Mike Pence be signs we are moving in the direction where Trump could be pressured to resign?
Rosenstein set up the special counsel investigation and reportedly told the White House afterwards. His motives can only be speculated about. Was he seeking revenge for being used as a prop in the firing of Comey and/or trying to repair his reputation? Was he trying to insulate the Russia probe against a Trump-appointed FBI Director? Does he see the winds blowing against Trump and is working to survive them?
Pence has set up a campaign Super PAC and is denying he knew about former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn's ties to Turkey - transparently to distance himself from the tainted Trump inner circle. Is the Republican leadership getting to the point where, if Trump appears doomed, it is better to replace him with Pence earlier than later? Or do they struggle on to November 2018's midterm elections?
Recent polls have shown that Trump, and Republican policies on key issues, are popular with Republican voters. That could encourage the Republican leadership in Congress to resist pressure in the short term. They can point to the special counsel and Congressional investigations as evidence the Russia probe is being taken seriously.
The week that was, on Comey and the Russian probe:
Setting the scene for what followed, the New York Times had reported that at a private dinner, seven days after he was sworn in, Trump demanded loyalty of Comey. Comey said he would always be honest with the President but he was not "reliable" in the conventional political sense. And Trump told NBC interviewer Lester Holt: "When I decided to [fire Comey] I said to myself, you know, this Russia thing with Trump and Russia is a made up story".
TUESDAY Washington Post: Reports that Trump revealed highly classified information in Oval Office meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Ambassador Sergey Kislyak. "I get great intel. I have people brief me on great intel every day," Trump bragged. Wall Street Journal: The Department of Justice has requested banking records of former Trump campaign chief Paul Manafort as part of the Trump-Russia probe. NBC: The invitation to Comey to have dinner at White House came as then-acting Attorney-General Sally Yates was warning the White House about Flynn's Russian contacts. Fox News: Trump says he didn't ask the FBI director to pledge loyalty but "I don't think it would be a bad question to ask".
Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. Photo / AP
WEDNESDAY New York Times: A Comey memo says Trump asked him to end the investigation into Flynn. "I hope you can see your way clear to letting this go, to letting Flynn go. He is a good guy. I hope you can let this go," Trump said according to the memo. Wall Street Journal: The info Trump shared with Russia during the Oval Office meeting was difficult to acquire and extraordinary valuable.
THURSDAY Major news: Rosenstein announces that a special counsel, former FBI Director Robert Mueller, will investigate the Russia probe, alongside the existing FBI investigation and Senate inquiries. Reuters: The Trump campaign had at least 18 undisclosed contacts with Russians during the last seven months of the 2016 presidential race, the news agency reports. McClatchy: Flynn stopped a key military plan in Syria that Turkey opposed. Flynn was paid US$530,000 as Turkey's agent. The Pentagon had a plan to retake Isis' de facto capital of Raqqa with Syrian Kurdish forces. New York Times: Trump aides knew Flynn was under investigation for secretly lobbying for Turkey before he became National Security Adviser. Bloomberg: Pence has taken steps to begin building his own political war chest. Pence launched Great America Committee, a leadership PAC, a move that will enable him to channel money to congressional Republicans ahead of the midterms elections. It's highly unusual for vice-presidents to set up their own fundraising vehicles. Neither Joe Biden nor Dick Cheney had one while in office. Wall Street Journal: The Israeli intelligence Trump gave the Russians came from the most valuable source the US has on Isis plots. NBC: Grand jury subpoenas and records requests have been issued in connection with Manafort, Flynn in past six months. ABC: The White House was blinded by the Special Counsel announcement - given only about 30-minutes warning by Rosenstein. CNN: Rosenstein informed his boss Attorney-General Jeff Sessions and the White House after he signed the special counsel order. Washington Post: House Majority Leader told a group of Republican politicians last year that Russian President Vladimir Putin was paying Trump. Kevin McCarthy said it was humour. Politico: Recent scandals have left White House staff feeling besieged. "We are kind of helpless," one says. CBS: Former Mossad chief says Israel will "think twice" before sharing sensitive info. New York Times: Trump is enraged and calling all his staff 'incompetent'. Politico: Reports that Republicans are privately beginning to worry that they may one day have to sit in judgment of Trump, or that more damaging information from Comey could force the President to step down. Within hours of the report by the New York Times on Wednesday, there was a distinct shift among congressional Republicans.
Former FBI Director and now special counsel Robert Mueller. Photo / AP
FRIDAY Trump comments: "The entire thing has been a witch hunt. There's no collusion between, certainly, myself and my campaign - but I can only speak for myself - and the Russians - zero." New York Times: Comey, unsettled by Trump, is said to have wanted to keep him at a distance. Comey tried to blend in with curtains in Blue Room at one White House ceremony so Trump wouldn't notice him. NBC: A source close to the Trump Administration says Pence - who was head of the transition - was kept in the dark about Flynn's alleged wrongdoings. Daily Beast: Trump pressured a "reluctant" Flynn to accept the National Security Adviser job even after Flynn warned the President that he was under investigation over lobbying on behalf of a foreign government. Trump is telling aides he wants Flynn back in the White House. Yahoo: Trump sent a private message to Flynn: "Stay strong". New York Times: Rosenstein told senators that he knew Trump planned to fire Comey before Rosenstein wrote a memo outlining the reasons for his dismissal. Details emerged of what happened after Trump found out about the special counsel. "Most [senior advisers] recommended that the President adopt a conciliatory stance and release a statement accepting Rosenstein's decision and embracing a swift investigation that would clear the cloud of suspicion hovering over the West Wing. [Jared] Kushner - who had urged Trump to fire Comey - was one of the few dissenting voices, urging the president to counterattack. Calmer heads prevailed."
White House chief strategist Steve Bannon, left, and chief economic adviser Gary Cohn at the Royal Court Palace, today in Saudi Arabia. Photo / AP
SATURDAY Major news: Comey will testify publicly before the Senate intelligence committee, its leaders announced. Washington Post: Federal investigators were looking at a senior White House official as a "significant person of interest" - someone law enforcement identifies as relevant to an investigation but who has not been charged or arrested. The article noted that the person was "someone close to the President". New York Times: Trump told visiting Russian officials in the Oval Office that firing "nut job" Comey had taken pressure off the Russia probe. He allegedly said: "I just fired the head of the FBI. He was crazy, a real nut job. I faced great pressure because of Russia. That's taken off. I'm not under investigation." The New York Times said the comments were on a White House documented account of the meeting. CNN: Russian officials bragged they could use Flynn to influence Trump. CNN: White House Counsel's office has consulted experts in impeachment and have looked into how such proceedings work. Reuters: White House is looking at using an ethics rule to weaken the special investigation on Russia. Daily Beast: "Every day [Trump] looks more and more like a complete moron," said one senior Administration official who also worked on Trump's campaign. "I can't see Trump resigning or even being impeached, but at this point I wish he'd grow a brain and be the man that he sold himself as on the campaign." McClatchy: The Russia probe now has three threads: Russian election interference, possible Trump campaign collusion, and a possible cover-up. Rosenstein told House members that the special counsel "has been given the authority to investigate the possibility of a cover-up". Politico: Reports on German government officials' attitudes to Trump. "People are less worried than they were six weeks ago, less afraid. Now they see the clownish nature," said one. Another German official said, "People here think Trump is a laughingstock." NBC: Pence's office said it backed the White House's rejection of a report that Flynn informed White House counsel Don McGahn in January of the investigation into his work for Turkey. Pence's office also stated that the the letter sent to Pence by Congressman Elijah Cummings on November 18 warning the transition team of Flynn's "apparent conflicts of interest" for his possible lobbying representing Turkey was never seen by Pence. Foreign Policy: Israeli intelligence officials were shouting at US counterparts in meetings over Trump's leak to the Russians. New York Times: "After four months of interactions between Trump and his counterparts, foreign officials and their Washington consultants say certain rules have emerged: Keep it short - no 30-minute monologue for a 30-second attention span. Do not assume he knows the history of the country or its major points of contention. Compliment him on his Electoral College victory. Contrast him favourably with President Barack Obama. Do not get hung up on whatever was said during the campaign. Stay in regular touch. Do not go in with a shopping list but bring some sort of deal he can call a victory." Wall Street Journal: Aides have been pressing for more restraint from the President on Twitter and a few weeks ago approached Trump about it. Aides warned Trump that some comments would "paint him into a corner" in terms of political messaging and legally.
White House senior adviser Jared Kushner, left, talks with White House chief of staff Reince Priebus at the Royal Court Palace in Saudi Arabia. Photo / AP
TODAY 538.com: Reports that Trump's approval rating has dropped three points since he fired Comey. At present 38.9 per cent approve of Trump's performance and 54.9 per cent disapprove. New York Times: Michael Caputo, a communications adviser for six months to the Trump campaign, has been asked by the House to submit to a voluntary interview and to provide documents related to the Russia inquiry. Caputo worked in Russia during the 1990s and later worked for Russian conglomerate Gazprom Media. Politico: Trump's Oval Office boast to Russian officials about why he fired FBI Director James Comey will almost certainly trigger an obstruction of justice investigation into whether the President engaged in a cover-up that warrants criminal charges, current and former Justice Department officials say.
