Holy moly.
In terms of "how much will this actually matter in day-to-day real world terms" I would hesitate to say.
But it's a big deal.
And potentially bigger because of when it's happening.
But it's a big deal.
And potentially bigger because of when it's happening.
As @dynamicsymmetry has been hammering all month, Trump and company's ability to control the narrative, to enforce their framing of events, has never been weaker than it is right now. He couldn't re-write the pandemic or get a topic change to stick...
And now we're plural weeks inside the biggest civil rights protest and civil unrest in most of our lifetimes, which he also hasn't been able to spin to his liking, and in the midst of all of this he gets handed multiple setbacks and rebukes in the Supreme Court.
And I say rebukes because they definitely stung him. Even when it's less that Roberts struck down the substance and more that he objected to the form, Trump's whole idea was the court would back him because they're on his team, and he's the boss.
And up until now his church photo op has stood as kind of the perfect storm, perfect example of the breakdown we're talking about, how the narrative has gotten completely out of his hands.
And then Bolton. I almost forgot Bolton and his book.
So with all this, we come to what I'm sure seemed to Trump and Barr like a very routine thing. They have been doing this kind of thing all along, even before Barr was there, and mostly people have gone along, because that's mostly what people do.
The most he's encountered is arguments about whether someone was fired or quit.
And now he gets "You don't fire me, AND I don't quit."
From a better lawyer than Barr with what seems like a solid legal reasoning.
And now he gets "You don't fire me, AND I don't quit."
From a better lawyer than Barr with what seems like a solid legal reasoning.
I will be watching this with curiosity. I think McConnell's distinct preference would be to be included the heck out of Trump's squabbles with prosecutors in New York. Doesn't mean he won't. But it will be interesting.
If McConnell delays or distracts on this or says something about it being between Trump and the courts, I would take that as a sign that he's very worried about Trump's chances in November and wants to be able to make a clean break if he survives himself.
Without implyling that McConnell is clean or not an accomplice of Trump's, I'd say that there's more than one "their" in play and it's not 100% clear which foot McConnell's going to have his weight on at this point in time.
