The Washington PostDemocracy Dies in Darkness

Opinion Morning Bits: Oh yes, Trump is in deep trouble

Columnist|
October 11, 2019 at 7:45 a.m. EDT
President Trump outside the White House. (Nicholas Kamm/Afp Via Getty Images)

Is it really worth all the trouble to serve in this administration? “House Democrats on Thursday subpoenaed Energy Secretary Rick Perry for documentation of his involvement with President Trump’s efforts to push the Ukrainian government to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden.”

This is troubling. A prank call connects Graham to another brewing scandal. “[Sen. Lindsey] Graham also mentions Trump’s personal interest in a ‘Turkish bank case’ in the call that appears to refer to a U.S. case involving Reza Zarrab, an Iranian-Turkish gold trader and client of Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani. Bloomberg reported on Wednesday that Trump had asked then-Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in 2017 to help persuade the Justice Department to drop the Zarrab case.” Oops.

So many Trump and/or Rudolph W. Giuliani associates wind up in legal trouble. “Two associates of President Trump’s personal attorney Rudolph W. Giuliani have been arrested on charges they schemed to funnel foreign money to U.S. politicians while trying to affect U.S.-Ukraine relations. . . .The two men, Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, who had been helping Giuliani investigate Democratic presidential candidate and former vice president Joe Biden, were arrested Wednesday evening at Dulles International Airport outside of Washington, D.C., where they had one-way tickets on a flight out of the country.” Not exactly fighting corruption, eh?

The trouble for Rudy is he surrounds himself with the worst people. “Prosecutors charged them, as well as two other men, with conspiracy, false statements to the Federal Election Commission, and falsifying records. An indictment charges that the men engaged in a straw-donor scheme to illegally donate money to a congressman—former Representative Pete Sessions, a Texas Republican—at the behest of a Ukrainian official, to get help in trying to have the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine fired.”

The biggest trouble for Republicans has always been Trump’s habit of aligning himself with brutal dictators, knifing friends and betraying America. “U.S. and Turkey Between Them May Give Syria’s Assad a Big Boost.”

Oh yes, Rudy is in a heap of trouble. Former prosecutor Mimi Rocah says, "I think he should be very worried right now. There is no question. We’ve all been talking about how frustrated we are about Congress not having any real leverage, even when it subpoenas – the SDNY has real leverage here with these men. And if they were involved – which it appears they were – in other criminal schemes with Giuliani, they are going to have a great incentive to talk to the SDNY about that.”

Trump gets in trouble when his pro-Putin moves blow up in his face. “President Donald J. Trump’s surprise decision to abandon the Kurds and sign off on Turkey’s operation in Syria drew condemnation in the West, but was cheerfully welcomed in Russia, and, for those who follow Russia closely, the contrast revived the ghosts of Helsinki, where Trump’s surrender of American values was on full display.”

Read more from Jennifer Rubin:

How likely is it Trump will be on the ballot in 2020?

It’s time for these officials to come to the aid of their country

Every Republican on the 2020 ballot should face the kind of scorn heaped on Joni Ernst

Mattis, McMaster and other ex-officials are MIA