Open Season

Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s latest charges that Russia did indeed play a major and invasive role in the 2016 Presidential Elections, are finally incontrovertible evidence that Russian operatives did everything they could to take down Hillary Clinton and to bolster Donald Trump’s chance of victory. None of this is surprising, but all of it makes for a very stressed out President Trump, as anyone following his Twitter feed for the last 48 hours can see. While the President may not have actively supported Russia in compromising our elections, his behavior throughout indicates concretely how much he fears Putin’s exposure of whatever he has on him. And, one can only imagine that Putin has a great deal of stuff, not least of which is probably the “golden shower” video.

What Mueller also must know, and will soon reveal, is that Putin is now in the position of master puppeteer. Mueller, thus, is being very careful now because he knows that the President is in a very vulnerable position. The President can’t come out against Putin (for fear that he holds some very damaging cards) and Mueller can’t risk shaking the very foundations of the United States by exposing the degree to which the President is compromised.

Instead, Trump needs time to process all that has just come forward, and Mueller and others need time to slow things down and work behind the scenes to bring all this mess to a carefully crafted and safe resolution. Nothing short of the survival of America depends on it.