Chris Matthews: The theory of collusion between Trump and Russia came apart today

Via the Free Beacon, this is unexpected. MSNBC is Collusion Central, which is why its ratings are exploding. Matthews admitting that there’s no apparent “there” there on that network is like Hannity saying “gee, Trump sure did behave improperly” on Fox.

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Matthews marvels that it sounds from Comey’s testimony like Flynn doesn’t have the goods on Trump after all. We already knew that, though, didn’t we? Flynn is reportedly seeking immunity but the feds aren’t interested (so far). If he had something that might take down the president, his lawyer would have made that known to prosecutors and immunity would be a much more attractive proposition. Any dirt Flynn has on Trump may be no worse than Trump having put him up to talking with Russia in December, which led to the fateful phone call with the Russian ambassador. That would be sketchy insofar as it would mean the incoming president was trying to undermine the sanctions that the outgoing president had just slapped on a foreign power for interfering in the campaign. But Trump could rebut that by pointing to the fact that those sanctions remain in place today, and of course he’d argue that there’s no great sin in a soon-to-be president getting a jump on diplomacy with other nations.

Related to that point, watch the second clip below of Lindsey Graham reasoning that Bob Mueller must have reason to believe that there’s no case to be made against Trump for obstruction of justice or else he’d never let Comey, his would-be star witness, get grilled under oath by senators. I think he’s overstating that argument: Mueller’s investigation has only just begun and he knows Comey to be a smart and careful lawyer in fielding questions. But his point is worth considering. If Trump’s critics want to get him on collusion, they may be stuck with in-plain-sight stuff — encouraging Russia during the campaign to “find” Clinton’s emails, touting Wikileaks repeatedly during the final few weeks before the election, and betraying no patriotic concern at all that he may have benefited electorally from Vladimir Putin’s info ops. Trump’s not going to jail for any of that. But he’ll suffer politically for it forever.

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David Strom 3:20 PM | November 15, 2024
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