Two things from the McCabe interview stand out:
* Each new revelation of the Trump-Putin dynamic moves in the same direction –> capitulation
* The President blasts his enemies, but never insists a thorough investigation will exonerate him
(Breaking it all down w/ @ElieHonig) pic.twitter.com/aCd5lqK96U
— Josh Campbell (@joshscampbell) February 18, 2019
President Donald Trump has certainly not been afraid to speak out against Special Counsel Robert Mueller‘s investigation, but a former aide to ex-FBI director James Comey said that what Trump hasn’t said speaks volumes. CNN Law Enforcement Analyst Josh Campbell, who was a special assistant to Comey, discussed this on Monday.
“As he continues to fight back … when the president says that these are lies and he denies it,” Campbell said, he doesn’t say, “I’m confident that a full investigation will prove me innocent.”
“As a former investigator, I think that’s telling,” Campbell said.
Now, Trump has certainly insisted that he’s done nothing wrong, claiming “no collusion, no obstruction!” Still, however, he often refers to the investigation of his campaign’s ties to Russia and his own possible obstruction of justice as a “witch hunt.” The difference between this approach and what Campbell is saying is that instead of saying that the investigation will exonerate him once it’s run its course, he tries to discredit the investigation before its findings are even announced. Sunday and Monday featured more of this, with Trump calling the probe “illegal.”
Campbell discussed this issue in the middle of a larger conversation about what fired FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe said in an interview with 60 Minutes. McCabe said that Trump may have committed the crime of obstruction of justice by firing Comey. McCabe took over as Acting Director of the FBI after Trump fired Comey. McCabe has made a number of headline-grabbing claims about Trump of late, including saying that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein considered getting Trump’s cabinet to remove him from office by invoking the 25th Amendment.
Campbell did note that McCabe’s statements should be taken in context with his history of making false statements.
“We can’t lose sight of the fact that McCabe has also opened himself up to credibility issues by lying to the Inspector General,” he said.
[Image via Mark Wilson/Getty Images]
