NO WAY TO DELAY THAT TROUBLE COMIN' EVERY DAY

Tomorrow is the 45th anniversary of the Watergate break-in, which has now been relegated to second place in the pantheon of bizarre American political scandals.  And it’s still early days in the Trump-Russia scandal.  Better yet, new champ isn’t resting on his laurels. 

Things took an odd turn on Thursday evening, when Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein issued a press release:  “Americans should exercise caution before accepting as true any stories attributed to anonymous officials, particularly when they do not identify the country – let alone the branch or agency of government – with which the alleged sources supposedly are affiliated.” 

OK, sure.  Exercise caution.  Caution is good, and so is exercise.  But why this memo, and why now?  My Twitter feed was full of smart people trying to crack the code. 

Some suggested that Rosenstein’s memo was a pre-emptive strike against a story that’s about to break.  Perhaps the White House got a call from a journalist asking for comment on a story based on a tip from a foreign intelligence agency and Trump insisted that Rosenstein issue some sort of statement attacking its credibility.  If that’s the case, we’ll find out soon.

Others argued that it was a reference to yesterday’s Washington Post story, which confirmed that Special Counsel Mueller was investigating Jared Kushner’s financial dealings, “according to officials familiar with the matter.”  But I didn’t see anything in the Post story that suggested the information might have come from a foreign government.  Ditto for the Post story that Mueller was investigating Donald Trump for obstruction of justice.

But the clearest indication that something is about to break is that Donald Trump has been raging on Twitter.  As usual, he barked at his favorite targets – Democrats, Hillary Clinton, and the failed media.  But he also tweeted this:  “I am being investigated for firing the FBI Director by the man who told me to fire the FBI Director! Witch Hunt.” 

That looks like a swipe at Rod Rosenstein, which is odd because it’s quite clear that Trump had decided to fire James Comey days before he asked Rosenstein to write a memo critical of Comey to give him a little cover.  We know this because Trump himself said so on national TV.  He also brought two Russian spies into the Oval Office the next day and told them the same story. 

Ironically, it was Jared Kushner who argued most strongly for Comey’s firing.  Now Kushner is in trouble on two fronts – shady financial dealings as well as cozying up to Russian spies during the transition.  He is truly a man for all seasons.

Oh, and Mike Pence is lawyering up.  He’s retained the services of a high powered criminal defense attorney.  Wonder what that’s about?

Good times.