This is a worthwhile thread, but I'm partial to a somewhat different way of thinking about it. (1/ )
What do you want if you're an MC? Positive publicity is pretty high on that list. For GOP MCs, that means positive publicity within the Republican-aligned media. (2/)
It's not only good for re-election (at least, re-nomination, which we know they're obsessed with), but becoming a Fox News star sets up an MC for a post-House career. (3/)
Next: What do you want if you're a committee staffer? Getting positive party-aligned media coverage for your boss is pretty high on the list. (4/)
So writing something (along with the p.r. strategy that went with it) to fill the endless demand of Fox et al. is....at least consistent with incentives facing the people involved. (5/)
There's no need for the thing to be quality, or on point, or accurate, or clever in any way. GOP-aligned media doesn't care. (6/)
Could Trump use it as a pretext for obstruction? Sure, and there's always a worry that Trump will just do whatever he sees on TV. But nothing here actually makes obstructing Mueller more justified to anyone who would have questioned it - and.... (7)
...it sure doesn't read to me as carefully designed to lay out a case for obstructing Mueller. (8/)
That strong incentives exist for GOP MCs and their staff to produce party-aligned media programming would actually be fine...if GOP-aligned media wasn't what it is. But it is. (9/)
Think of the incentives for Dem MCs and their staffs if there's unified Dem gov't in 2021: what would get them noticed by Dem-aligned media? Bar will (probably!) be a lot higher for muckraking stuff...and there will also be incentives for, say, writing liberal bills.
Politicians and their staff respond to incentives. That's all. (end)
