Hints of falling dominoes (an optimistic view of the future):
(1) Trump’s disapproval rating among Republicans has jumped from 16% to 23% in the most recent Reuters/IPSOS poll, with only 75% of Republicans approving of him. These are key numbers to watch. When Trump’s base collapses he will be left with no threats to wield over Congressional Republicans looking for ways to abandon him.
(2) The FBI investigation of Trump-Russia collusion has reportedly named a “senior White House advisor,” thought to be Jared Kushner, as a “person of interest,” with additional subpoenas and interviews to follow.
(3) It looks like Mike Pence was not an innocent dupe of Michael Flynn, that he knew all along that Flynn was being investigated for his Russia/Turkey connections. Pence has denied receiving a letter from Elijah Cummings warning him of Flynn’s involvements, but Cummings has released a letter acknowledging receipt of his warning. This makes Trump’s claim that he fired Flynn for lying to Pence more specious than ever, and Pence’s claims of ignorance dubious as well. As more leaks surface identifying Pence as a co-conspirator, Pence could conceivably go down with Trump (even as Spiro Agnew went down with Nixon).
(4) The tape of Paul Ryan and other top Republicans talking about Trump being on Putin’s payroll, and agreeing to keep the information secret, seems to be only the first in what are likely to be extensive leaks of early Republican awareness of Trump-Russia collusion. Ryan yesterday suggested that more such leaks are “a cause for concern.” Ryan (#3 in Presidential succession) could conceivably go down with Trump and Pence.
Things are getting curiouser and curiouser.
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