On Lawfare former White House Counsel Bob Bauer discusses the implications of Trump’s consistent denials of Russian interference in the Presidential election which brought him to power:
In the past week, the president restated his view that assertions of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election are a “hoax.” He has said this before. In repeating himself on the topic, including at a political rally on Saturday in Alabama, he is doing more than ignoring the evidence that has emerged over the months of Justice Department and congressional investigations, in investigative reporting, and in Facebook’s recent disclosures about Russian-financed campaign advertising. He is denying the evidence. He is saying that beliefs about Russia electioneering are untrue. And he is making a still broader claim: that any claim to the contrary is a hoax—a deliberate deception or fraud.
This is a serious move, not one to be dismissed as mere political positioning. It matters that a president charged with faithfully executing the laws deliberately and continuously misrepresents to the public the grounds for an ongoing criminal investigation. And it is not a course he can pursue without consequences for his personal exposure in the investigation or in an impeachment proceeding.
In other words, denying known truths is a hazardous route to take in our Constitutional system. But I wonder if Bauer is giving Trump too much credit here:
The lawyers around the president, including both personal and government lawyers, cannot conceivably imagine that the president can engage free of risk in this attempted deception. It is reasonable to assume, or to hope, that they counseled to him to stop. He won’t, and one is left to speculate about the reasons. It may be that the president is keeping the foundation laid for firing Robert Mueller, whom he might decide to charge with the leading role in the “hoax.” While at the moment the president’s lawyers profess a commitment to cooperate with the probe, they have also reportedly examined grounds on which Mueller might be terminated. So they may be content to let their client assail the “hoax” and continue feeding doubt about the special counsel’s integrity and mission.
I think it’s become clear that President Trump does little planning, preferring to take actions “off the cuff”, as they say; cleanup is left to subordinates. Given the number of lawsuits he’s faced over the years, it’s not clear that his personal style has worked particularly well in the private sector; in the public sector, if Congress had competent GOP members, it could well be a disaster. Given the behavior of Congress in regards to the President, however, I’m not sure Trump needs to worry until after the mid-terms.
