Today was one of the more cognizant interviews that Mr. Guiliani has done in recent memory where he didn't say anything that was incomprehensible. That doesn't exclude having said things that are controversial such as suggesting the president is somehow above the law. Mr. Guiliani explained that the president can not obstruct justice, which the National Review's Rich Lowry agreed with, and can shut down any investigation he wants. The reason Mr. Guiliani gave for the president not doing this was for PR reasons.
So essentially, the president's lawyers are asserting that the he is above the law and that only Congress can hold him accountable, only in a political sense through impeachment. By that rationale, Mr. Trump, as president, can indeed shoot someone on Fifth Avenue and get away with it because as Mr. Guiliani said, he can pardon himself.
That's an extreme example of course, but is this column the one out there that were now considering the notion that the president is above the law? Mr. Todd also asked Mr. Guiliani if the president could open an investigation on anyone he wanted to as well, to which he demurred in his answer. With regard specifically to the Russia investigation and the special counsel, Mr. Guiliani said that the president would only sit down with the special counsel is if the DOJ hands over all the documents with regard to the FBI's informant.
Speaking of PR, but more succinctly of the public, the only way the American people are going to get the truth is if Mr. Trump is subpoenaed to testify in front of a grand jury. But come to think of it, even if he lied to the grand jury, which is a criminal offense for every American citizen, he could pardon himself for lying, according to Mr. Guiliani.
As NPR's Joshua Johnson explained that Mr. Guiliani and the president's lawyers' strategy/explanation is that the president is too busy focusing on other things to be bogged down with an investigation that they deem illegitimate. And along the way, as Katy Tur explained confuse everyone along the way with such things as first the president says he fired James Comey because of the Russia investigation and then he tweeted that that was not the reason. Also, Jay Sekulow, one of the president's attorneys, said that the president didn't craft the letter for his son on Air Force one, but then this week we learn that Mr. Trump indeed dictated the letter.
However...
What can not be ignored is if the investigation is illegitimate and the president is not guilty of anything then why isn't he cooperating with the FBI and the intelligence community to get to the bottom of Russia meddling in the U.S. election? Why is he acting like someone who has something to hide?
And yes, the president does have major issues to attend to and that his focused should be concentrated to these issues simply doesn't wash. If he's so busy then how does he have time to tweet 19 times this week about Russia and weigh in on culture controversies like Roseann Barr and Samantha Bee. It's a weak argument.
And speaking of other issues, as this column explained last week the summit with North Korea is a lose-lose for the United States. The Administration is not going to get North Korea to give up its nukes and they get photo-ops, as a seemingly equal power, with the president. The president should have never met with Kim Yong Chol this week. Go to this article at Foreign Policy and you'll understand why.
Not to mention that while Mr. Trump is making friends with a dictator who kills his own people and who fires missiles over one of our closest allies, Japan, he's putting tariffs on our unquestioned closest ally, Canada (along with Mexico and Europe).
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is right to question this action if it is as the president said, based on security concerns. If there's any other country we can trust, it would be freaking Canada! Mr. Trudeau was correct; it's completely insulting, and it's going to hurt both Canadian and American consumers. By the way, it was VP Mike Pence who informed the Canadians that the U.S. wanted a sunset clause on a new NAFTA deal, which makes no sense at all.
Congressional Republicans are grumbling over this and may take action against the president, but they don't have a good track record thus far. Never mind obstruction or collusion or money laundering or potentially opening oneself up to blackmail because of all of the above, trade is the 'criminal' act that has pushed them too over the edge.
Panel: Katy Tur, NBC News; Peggy Noonan, The Wall Street Journal; Joshua Johnson, NPR; Rich Lowry, The National Review
One more thing...
Pardons - Rich Lowry is correct in saying the Joe Arpaio pardon was "grotesque." And Peggy Noonan is absolutely correct in saying these pardons by the president are frivolous; however, if she is going to wax poetic about these pardons, could she at least get Jack Johnson' name correct (not Joe Johnston). Jeez.
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