It's the cover up: Donald Trump on defense

Worcester, Massachusettes: Telegram.com opinion.

Echo editorial from editorial staff: 

Russia invaded American 2016 elections

CHAOS in WashingtonDC ~ Americans need Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller III and his report more than ever! And while it’s a sentiment we’ve considered voicing a number of times since the former FBI director’s appointment, it can’t come soon enough – as in today.

That fact has never been more clear than in Donald Trump’s answer to the final media questions following Helsinki's one-day summit meeting, between Trump and Vladimir Putin, in Finland.

The gathering was especially notable for its one-on-one meeting, with translators only, between the presidents Trump and Putin. It was said to have lasted just over two hours. It’s an approach that Trump employed with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un as well, a display of the president’s confidence in his personal negotiating skills, whether or not said skills live up to Mr. Trump’s estimation. The prepared statements by the two presidents were fine, working together to stop the proliferation of nuclear weapons, resolving the Syria conflict, cooperation in the fight against terrorism, etc. It was the very ending, once the joint appearance was opened to a handful of media questions, when Mr. Trump ignited a media storm when directly asked about Russian meddling in our elections.

If you’ve read, or read about, the Mueller indictments of a baker’s dozen Russians last February and the latest indictments announced Friday of a dozen actual Russian military intelligence agents, there should be no question in anyone’s mind that the Russians attempted to disrupt not just the 2016 presidential election but to generally sow discord across our society going back to at least 2014. Before it was about thwarting Hillary Clinton, it was about trying to divide people based on race, based on religion, based on gun ownership, and any other way they could think to divide us. And when election season rolled around, the Russians made efforts to promote not just Bernie Sanders but also the Green Party’s Jill Stein, and of course, Donald Trump as he picked up steam. And following the November result that no one expected, the Russians went right on sowing discord through efforts such as simultaneously organizing rallies in New York that supported Mr. Trump’s election as well as “Trump is NOT my President” rallies delegitimizing his election.

As we all know, Donald Trump is notoriously thin-skinned when challenged and, even as Melania Trump has said, strikes back 10 times harder than he is hit (MaineWriter ~ maybe Mrs Melania Trump even knows this from her own personal experience?). 

And there may not be anything worse than questioning the very legitimacy of Mr. Trump’s place in history and power. Perhaps many would react the same way. But on this question, Mr. Trump is like a volcano that’s ready to blow.

That’s what we saw on display yesterday, when the president was asked about Russian meddling in the presidential election and who he believed, U.S. intelligence agencies and investigations or Mr. Putin’s denials.

Mr. Trump’s noncommittal response devolved into denials of “collusion,” and about witch hunts, and even to FBI Deputy Assistant Director Peter Strzok’s anti-Trump animus, as displayed by his text messages. That wasn’t exactly the question, Mr. President. He could simply have answered that our government knows what happened and - if he didn’t want to be critical of Mr. Putin standing right next to him - could simply have added that we as a nation put our ultimate faith in the American system of justice.

But instead of keeping it about what the Russians are accused of doing, the president made it about himself. He jumped into self-defense mode about a question he wasn’t technically asked, but about what apparently is uppermost on his mind - did he and his campaign collude with the Russians to get elected? Not a good look, especially on a world stage.

He jumped from the boiling pot of Russian interference that’s inherently unanswerable over whether it elevated Mr. Trump to the presidency - particularly given the weaknesses of the Clinton campaign and the follies of one James B. Comey Jr. - directly into the fire of whether Mr. Trump is a form of Manchurian candidate, guilty of collusion. It’s moments like this that can stick. Like asking a fictitious Naval officer to explain what happened to the strawberries.

Mr. Trump didn’t have to make the answer about himself, but of course we should know better. We can only imagine what Mr. Putin and his cronies are raising toasts to back at the Kremlin. And as the president himself alluded to, these questions and issues will linger until Mr. Mueller’s report, which will indeed be a while. 

Americans need Mr. Mueller’s report, now more than ever.