SCRAMBLING FROM THE SHADOW OF A THUNDER STORM

I am back, with a vengeance. Be prepared. #midelections

— Steven Bannon (@SteveKBannon) May 30, 2018

At every stage in this historical epoch of the Age of Trump the full contradictions of the crisis of an empire soaked in imperialism, dedicated to endless war and the people's desire for democratic government is thwarted.

There was No Collusion with Russia (except by the Democrats). When will this very expensive Witch Hunt Hoax ever end? So bad for our Country. Is the Special Counsel/Justice Department leaking my lawyers letters to the Fake News Media? Should be looking at Dems corruption instead?

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 2, 2018

The June 3rd Philadelphia Inquirer newspaper had columnist Will Bunch latest "The week Trump went full dictator and no one tried to stop him" based on a January 2018 20-page memo sent by Trump lawyers to the Meuller investigation.

The New York Times reporter Mike Schmidt tries to explain the options facing Trump and the Meuller probe.  Here's a May 21, 2018 video they prepared.


[Excerpt]



This week, the president made headlines by meeting in the Oval Office with fellow reality-TV icon Kim Kardashian West, who appealed for criminal justice reform and pleaded for a pardon for Alice Marie Johnson, a 63-year-old great-grandmother and model inmate, volunteering in her prison’s hospice, serving a life sentence for a first-time, nonviolent drug arrest. Trump listened — and then instead went out and pardoned D’Souza and told reporters he might issue clemency or a pardon for A

UPDATE: President Trump granted Alice Marie Johnson a full clemency after this posting. She was released this week.


Each Trump pardon — technically legal, even as they obliterate any sense of process or fairness — lowers our resistance for the day when Trump may offer a pardon to players in the scandals surrounding his own 2016 presidential campaign or his close allies. If and when — and Trump’s recent moves are pointing to “when” — a pardon is issued to someone like already-pleaded-guilty ex-national security adviser Michael Flynn or under-investigation Trump lawyer Michael Cohen, Trump will surely say they were “treated very unfairly” — just like his TV pal Blago.

— Trump’s lawyers are now out there openly saying they believe the president of the United States is above the law. This weekend, the New York Times published a 20-page letter that Trump’s personal attorneys sent to special counsel Robert Mueller seeking to avoid an interview with the prosecutor, which includes the stunning claim that it’s impossible for the White House to obstruct justice because, in the end, the president injustice.