A sequence of reflexive tweets and comments about the Russia probe from the White House and Trump’s legal team has spectacularly backfired, suggesting that the administration was knocked off balance by news of Michael Flynn’s plea deal and raising questions about whether its struggles reflect a deteriorating legal position for the President.

The fallout from Friday’s bombshell consumed several days when Trump should have been highlighting his biggest political win yet after the Senate passed a tax reform bill, and may well have deepened his legal and political jeopardy…

The dysfunction should also concern Trump’s supporters, since he is up against the most revered prosecutor of his generation, in Mueller and a team of crack lawyers picked from top blue chip law firms.