Is it possible that Mueller is egging Trump on, by being so aggressive?

[Honeycombe8]

I'm wondering if Mueller is intentionally being higher profile and more aggressive of late, in a bid to get Trump to make a move to quash the investigation? Or do something stupid in desperation? Or maybe just in a hurry, to get it done before Trump hits the nuke buttons?

Where are the leaks about the investigation coming from? There weren't any not too long ago. And now the leaks of the investigation are spilling forth like water. Or maybe just the intensity level of the investigation has risen so much that it can't help but get out.

[MLAA]

1. Oh, I do hope Mueller is playing him like a fiddle.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

2. No, he's just doing what a good special counsel would do.

I don't think there are intentional leaks - Mueller's operations are pretty leakproof - but when you start initiating certain legal procedures, things end up on file with a court somewhere and eventually become public. Leaks could be coming from the Senate and House committees as well, since Mueller seems to be sharing information with them. Mueller is just going to do whatever needs to be done, regardless of who knows about it.

[Honeycombe8]

4. Maybe you're right. It just seemed like a stark difference in the last couple of weeks. nt

[Warpy]

3. If he's not, he should

because the more pressure he applies, the worse Asshole is going to get and the sooner we'll get rid of him.

[DrDan]

5. No - this is not a game

[Stuart G]

6. Yes, you are correct.no game,,,,,Mueller will get Trump and Pence..

[Honeycombe8]

7. I hope so. I still don't see the Pence connection to it all. Pence wasn't part of the inner circle.

The Trump core team didn't tell Pence things. Trump hadn't even known Pence before he named him VP.

[Stuart G]

8. I read in another post...that Mueller is looking into Pence's connection to Russia too..

I wish I had a link, but I don't...but it said that the money connections on Pence are also Russian. of course they are not that obvious..but are clear if one looks deeply enough..

[Honeycombe8]

14. Oh, I see. I don't remember reading that. So many things happening so fast. nt

[brush]

11. Not quite. Remember during the Flynn scandal Pence said he didn't know anything?

It came out that he did know Flynn was lying.

Pence is dirty too.

[womanofthehills]

16. Paul Manifort is supposed to have picked Pence

Paul Manafort’s associations and every communication he has had with the Trump transition team will come under scrutiny. That will include his communications and relationship with Vice President Mike Pence, whom Paul Manafort picked to be Donald Trump’s running mate, after New Jersey Governor Chris Christie was Donald Trump’s first choice.

The full relationship between Mike Pence and Paul Manafort is unclear, but there is one. The Daily Beast reported in November 2016 that Paul Manafort and Mike Pence were on the phone “regularly.” With Paul Manafort under increasing scrutiny, the Senate Intelligence Committee will uncover the details his relationship to Mike Pence during their investigation.

http://www.inquisitr.com/4104854/trump-russia-vp-mike-pences-relationship-with-paul-manafort/

[defacto7]

9. I've thought about it but I don't think Mueller needs

to egg anything on. He's just moving forward.

[Corvo Bianco]

10. Hillary taught us so well.

[Honeycombe8]

15. She taught us...what? nt

[Corvo Bianco]

19. She put on a clinic on how to professionally bait this guy

☺ the debates... A work if art. I remember them so fondly.

[WinkyDink]

25. Mueller isn't helming a political campaign.

[Corvo Bianco]

30. Right, he's investigating someone who

Last edited Fri Sep 1, 2017, 10:54 AM - Edit history (1)

Regularly incriminates himself when under scrutiny.

[MyOwnPeace]

12. I think that considering..........

that the independent investigator being a true professional will drive a mental basket-case into "crazy country!"

There is NO WAY that the "F**king Idiot" in the White House is going to out-smart Mueller.
Muller knows the law.
Trump knows shit!

[Miles Archer]

13. Of COURSE he is.

"Or do something stupid in desperation?"

Oh, you betcha. Trump's a Pavlov Dog. It is so ridiculously easy to push his buttons.

We all really need to watch "Tombstone" again, and I say that as someone who has seen it (conservative estimate here) maybe 50 times since its theatrical release. It's one of the single greatest parables of how the real world works that I have ever seen.

Trump is Johnny Ringo. He agrees to meet Wyatt Earp to "finish it," because he is 100% confident that he can "finish" Wyatt Earp. Doc Holliday gets there before Earp. Ringo chokes a little and said that he has no beef with Holliday. Holliday responds "I beg to differ, sir, we started a game that we never finished." Ringo, still cocky and arrogant, says "Well, OK, Lunger." and a couple of minutes later he's been finished by Holliday.

See, Trump sized up the lay of the land and told himself that he could beat anything thrown at him. What he didn't count on...to steal another line from "Tombstone"...was that Mueller was coming, and he was bringing Hell with him.

"Or maybe just the intensity level of the investigation has risen so much that it can't help but get out."

There's that as well, and when you think about it, the majority of what we actually know about it is the staffing of Mueller's team and their areas of expertise. Additionally, there is no way in Hell that Mueller is going to "team up with the IRS" and keep that under the radar.

[kentuck]

21. I wonder how the IRS...?

...is going to help him? They have been "covering" for Trump for thirty years or so. What would they have now that they haven't had in the past?

It's a tricky situation, I think.

[Miles Archer]

23. Very good question.

The only way I can see that they can "help" Mueller is to open the books on Trump.

Problem is, the only thing that exists on Trump's tax returns is information provided by Trump, and if they DO audit him, he's notorious for cooking the books and saying "I lost those records."

[kentuck]

31. I don't think the tax records will tell us much.

Any ill-begotten gains could be put into an overseas account.

[WinkyDink]

27. Oh, brother. This ain't a Western. Mueller is ethically and brilliantly

conducting an investigation into money-laundering, perjury, treason, illegal receiving of foreign donations to the Trump campaign, etc.

He's not got the time for gamesmanship.

[marylandblue]

17. Mueller has apparently called a number of people before the grand jury in the last few weeks

We don't even know who they all are. But all the press has to do is sit in front of the courthouse and see who goes in or out. The witnesses aren't supposed to say anything, but they can learn a lot just from the questions being posed. So I think a lot of the leaks are coming from those witnesses.

[WinkyDink]

28. Witnesses can usually reveal their testimony.* The jurors must be silent.

*Sometimes not until proceedings conclude.

[left-of-center2012]

18. "leaks of the investigation are spilling forth like water"

I'm not hearing that.

[kentuck]

20. The thought did occur...

...that he was somewhat rushing him into making a premature decision?

[JI7]

22. NO , but he IS taking steps in case Trump tries to or does fire him

[WinkyDink]

24. No. Mueller is deadly serious, not stupidly petty. He's doing his job.

[leftynyc]

26. That may be part of it

But I suspect he's leaning HARD on manafort to get him to flip. It's either going to be flip or prison.

[roamer65]

29. Rope a dope.

[greyl]

32. No, Feinstein is egging him on. nt