Donald Trump's allies are launching a war against Robert Mueller

As the president gets defensive about the Russia investigation, his allies go on the offense

Published June 26, 2017 3:24PM (EDT)

Donald Trump; Robert Mueller   (Getty/Joe Raedle/Brendan Smialowski/Photo montage by Salon)
Donald Trump; Robert Mueller (Getty/Joe Raedle/Brendan Smialowski/Photo montage by Salon)

On May 17, Robert Mueller was appointed head of the special counsel to probe into Russia's connection to President Donald Trump's 2016 Presidential campaign.

After two months, Republicans are setting up multiple lines of defense for any potential findings that could be grounds for impeachment.

President Trump continues to deflect criticism for his own controversies towards the former-President Barack Obama and former Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. This argument is certainly worn out — as the election was almost eight months ago — which is why the Great America PAC is spending $400,000 to blast this ad.

Conservatives continue to vilify former FBI Director James Comey and his friends — most notably Benjamin Wittes, Brookings Institution fellow and Lawfare editor, who published a story a day before the Comey hearing, that he met with the New York Times to discuss specifics about Comey and Trump's relationship.

Wittes rose to prominence by making some ominous predictions on Twitter about "explosive" information from the investigation. Those tweets have come just before big news broke — such as his warning in June, which came just days before Comey's testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee. Because he's close to Comey, Wittes' "tick" tweets have been met with suspense.

But Wittes was quick Monday to downplay the ominous meaning behind his tweets.

If Mueller determines there is collusion, Republicans and Trump will have to choose between the two — which messaging will be most effective at warding off impeachment pleas.


By Michael Glassman

Michael Glassman is on Salon’s Breaking News team. You can find him on Twitter at @warnkemg

MORE FROM Michael Glassman


Related Topics ------------------------------------------

Benjamin Wittes President Trump Robert Mueller Russia Probe