So, what to do?
If I were advising President Trump, I would have just learned that General Flynn's lawyers were no longer communicating with any lawyers working for the White House or for Trump himself. This happens when the clients are adverse in interest - the clear implication is that Flynn is now cooperating with Mueller.
What follows is a blue sky exploration of what President Trump may want to do in order to slow the closing of the FBI's net around him and his administration. I say "slow" rather than "stop" because, short of firing Muller and his entire team or ordering Sessions to end their investigation, their work will go forward.
To start - the one thing that Trump cannot do is fire Mueller. He already already pulled the trigger on this option by firing Comey. If he does this twice, he would face immediate Congressional opposition from people in both parties. Still, he has plenty of other tools available to him.
Step 1 - Trump needs to pardon Flynn and his son NOW.
As noted, it looks like Flynn is cooperating with Mueller. Flynn would know potentially damaging information regarding how Russia attempted to influence the Trump administration as it was being formed immediately following that last presidential election. Specifically, it seems clear that Russia, through its ambassador to the United States, tried to have an impact on the formation of US foreign policy after the election by engaging Flynn after he was pegged to be the new National Security Advisor.
Of course, the Russians already had a burgeoning relationship with Flynn. It is likely that the Russians tried to use this relationship to try to influence the US policy on Crimea and Ukraine and the related embargo. If this was the case, it would show the first direct link between Trump and his new administration and Russian meddling. He needs to stop Flynn from cooperating, asap. And so, Trump should pardon Flynn and his son, who was party to many of the connections to Russia, asap.
Doing this destroys all the leverage that Mueller has over Flynn and his son stemming from what may be money-laundering somehow related to Reza Zarrab, a Turkish-Iranian businessman recently released from a US prison, in circumstances that suggest he may cooperate with Mueller's team to build a case against Mueller. See here...
https://www.cnbc.com/2017/11/16/a-turkish-businessman-may-be-cooperating-with-flynn-investigation.html
There is no question that pardoning Flynn will raise the ire of the bought Left-wing press in the USA. CNN will go apoplectic.
To cover this, Trump should argue that, unlike Manafort, Gates and Papadopoulos, Flynn has not been charged with anything, so there is no harm in pardoning him. He may also want to present Flynn as a struggling patriot, caught up in a web of Left-Democratic intrigue.
Of course, it is likely that none of this is true, but as noted in a blog on March 10, 2016, "The New American Prince and the Necessity of Lying", not only can Trump lie to protect his interests and his administration, in the America of today, he must lie - he is actually expected to lie - in order to rally those who support him...his tribe.
Just as he got away with firing Comey, Trump would get away with a strategically targeted pardon. The Republicans would rally, the Democrats would be upset - nothing would change.
But Trump should only use this weapon once. If he were to pardon others as the Mueller investigation proceeds, especially if he were to pardon people who had been charged, his ability to lie and distort to cover this actions would be subsumed by the rising outrage that would follow. It is not that he can never use this, or even the power to fire people again, but short of absolute desperation, he should hold off after pardoning the Flynns.
2. Send Kushner and Trump Jr. out of the country.
Trump should immediately send his son and son-in-law out of the United States, specifically to a jurisdiction which does not have an extradition treaty with the United States.
These two men attended the infamous meeting with a representative of the Russian state on June 16, 2016, which, as has been noted in this blog, could easily be the basis of a conspiracy charge. They need to be put out of the reach if the Mueller investigation, especially as the ring of truth begins to close around them, and with that, the possibility that charges of any sort may follow with the type of conditions that Manafort now lives under - a.k.a. house arrest. They will not be able to avoid being questioned by Mueller's people even if they are in a foreign country, but if they were outside the USA, they could control the place for any such meeting, as well as its timing. It could take months for them to be questioned, and every delay helps Trump.
As with pardoning Flynn, Trump will have to provide a convenient excuse for this move. If he were to formally sever their ties with the Administration, this would afford him an opportunity to say they would be exploring new business opportunities in other countries, or that they need to take a break from the stresses of the work they have been doing on behalf of America - to spend more time with their families. Of course, this would be 100% bull shit....see above re: the necessity of lying.
Oh, I need to ask how is it possible that these two men are still in the White House given the investigation that is underway!? Is anyone ethical in the Trump Administration? The second they came under suspicion of something that could border on treason, they had to immediately recuse themselves from all responsibilities until their names were cleared. This should have been the very forceful advice from legal counsel. Are there any lawyers in the House!?
3. Push The Uranium One Investigation.
This is a grand diversion - the investigation of the Clintons and their dealings with Russia before Trump arrived on the scene. The Left-Democrats hate this and see it as a complete fraud. In fact, it is an almost perfect diversion, and it needs to be pursued with vigor.
Trump is under suspicion of having illicit contacts with Russia. The Uranium One issue is premised on the possibility that his opponent in the last presidential election and her husband had even more illicit dealings with the same people.
Understand, the point isn't to actually charge the Clintons with anything. It is to undercut the Mueller investigation by suggesting that the Clinton's misdeeds with Russia were worse than those of Trump, so why investigate Trump? Those on the Left who argue that there is nothing here may be inadvertently aiding Trump's cause.
The Uranium One issue also obviously strengthens Trump's claim to have been elected in a free and fair election by making his opponent look even more corrupt than he is. The main accusation is that Trump colluded wit Russia to steal the election. If Clinton was working with the same people, in even more questionable circumstances, every claim she makes to be aggrieved looks suspect.
Pushing this issue also unites Trump's party around an issue they can use to fight the elections that will be held in less than 18 months. There is no question that the issues surrounding Trump have started to hurt Republican fortunes. It does this by causing Republican voters to stay at home, while pushing Democrats to come put to the polls. Having something to bash the Clintons with at election time will have a very good effect on voter turn out, which, in a country where less than 50% of people vote, is the the issue that actually decides every US election.
Finally, and most importantly, pushing this issue gives Trump the possibility of ordering Sessions to close down the Muller investigation at some point in the future.
He can't do this until there is a general sense that this is a "nothing burger". He is not there yet, and may never get there, but bashing the Clintons at least opens the possibility of closing down Mueller some day, especially if he able to drag this out as suggested by the tactics noted above, and he can show that the Clintons are actually worse than he is.
In short, the sentiment that "they are all evil" is his ticket out of this mess, as the apathy and hopelessness that such a sentiment evokes cannot possibly sustain the type of effort Mueller will need as the ring closes around Trump. Put another way, if everyone is evil, who cares?
Conclusion:
The strategy for Trump is simple - delay where he can, and undercut support for the investigation by focusing on the Clinton's misdeeds in the hopes of finding an opportunity to formerly shut Mueller down.
If Trump cannot shut down this investigation, he is done. Once his son and son-in-law are charged, and that day is coming, no one will support him and he will be impeached. Given the dire implications for him and his administration, he should use every tool he has at his disposal - driving his actions as close as he can to the line that is continuing Congressional support without actually going over that line.
Apologia - I don't actually want Trump to do any of the above - this is a purely hypothetical exercise. If I were really his advisor, I would tell him to recognize that he is manifestly unfit for office and to resign, now.
But sometimes it is "interesting" pretending to be pure evil. Hmmm...will this blog generate job offers?!
