Controlling the narrative in the 2020 election, Democrats dismissed 74-year-old President Donald Trump’s ranting about recently declassified documents showing that former President Barack Obama and former Vice President Joe Biden were briefed by 65-year-old former CIA Director John Brennan about the Russian hoax. Trump wants the Obama administration held accountable for a conspiracy with former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton using her opposition research AKA “the Steele Dossier” to falsely tie Trump to the Kremlin to sabotage his campaign. Trump hoped his 70-yearoild Atty. Gen. William Barr and his handpicked lieutenant 70-year-old U.S. Atty. John Durham (R-Conn.) would have returned indictments by now. But only one guilty plea so far for document-tampering Aug. 29 involved former Department of Justice lawyer Kevin Clinesmith but no one else.
Trump hoped that 60-year-old former FBI Director James Comey, 65-year-old former CIA Director John Brennan, 70-year-old former Director of National Intelligence, 55-year-old former National Security Adviser Susan Rice and others would all face indictments. But so far, there’s been no October surprise nor does it appear that there’s going to be one. “Where are all the arrests?” Trump asked. “Can you imagine if the roles were reversed? Long-term sentences would have started two years ago. Shameful!” Trump tweeted. While there’s plenty of evidence to show the FBI engaged in a conspiracy to sabotage Trump’s 2016 even to overturn the 2016 election, there’s no stomach from Barr or Durham’s team to pursue prosecutions. Trump’s left hanging, filled with frustration over what might have taken place if the roles were reversed with a Democrat president subject to an illegal investigation.
One thing’s for sure, no matter how many declassified documents come out, the press won’t report it, leaving Trump twisting in the wind. There’s simply no public interest in getting into the weeds about what happened to Trump four years ago or even more recently. ‘DO SOMETHING ABOUTTHIS. THE BIGGES OF ALL POLITICAL SCANDALS IN HISTORY!!! BIDEN, OBAMA AND CROOKED HILLAR LED THIS TREASONOUS PLOT!!! BIDEN SHOULD BE ALLOW TO RUN. GOT CAUGHT!,” Trump tweeted, sadly realizing that no one cares what happened to him. Most Democrats think whatever happened Trump deserved it. Trump’s proved beyond a reasonable doubt that he was subject to an illegal spying operation under Obama by the nation’s leading law enforcement and intelligence agencies. But without the media covering the story, it loses legitimacy.
Explaining what happens isn’t suitable for an election campaign where the narrative is dumbed down for popular consumption. Talking about how Obama’s White House, FBI, CIA and National Security staff violated the law, engaging in an illegal spying operation is too complicated for a campaign. With Barr and Durham not looking at indictments, Trump can only wonder what might have been. Facts and history are clearly on Trump’s side but if the media refuses to report on it, it’s never recorded in the history books. What Trump calls the “crime of the century” becomes a big nothing, something no one pays attention to. Afflicted with Covid-19 and drugged with steroids, among other things, Trump can only sit back in frustration, knowing that nothing will probably get done on the Russian hoax. Declassifying more documents at this point won’t change too many minds.
Without an October surprise, Trump seems flailing in his campaign, as Democrats define his presidency based on his handling of the novel coronavirus. While there’s no way to judge whether or not Biden and Harris would do a better job with the Covid-19 crisis, Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) plans to indict the White House for failing to manage the epidemic. Pence has his work cut out for him getting Harris to deviate off the coronavirus, a winning tactic so far for Democrats. Shifting the discussion to what Harris plans to do with the Green New Deal, health care, immigration reform, gun control, etc., won’t be easy. Tonight’s 69-year-old moderator Susan Page works for USA Today, known for its anti-Trump reporting. Pence might fall into the same trap as Trump when he debated Oct. 29 with known Trump enemy Fox News Christ Wallace moderating the first, maybe the only, presidential debate.
Trump caught in a sticky wicket trying with less than three weeks left in the campaign to shift topics away from the Covid-19 crisis. It didn’t help his cause when he got diagnosed Oct. 1, then winding up in Walter Reed Medical Center for aggressive treatment. Watching him get the virus together with many of his inner circle sent a message to the public that he’s not managing things well. Muzzling 80-year-old National Institute’s of Health Chief of Allergy and Infectious Disease Dr. Anthony Fauci has played into Democrats’ playbook, something Harris will hammer home in tonight’s debate. As long a Covid-19 cases and deaths dominate the headlines, Pence will have a tough time diverting attention away from the virus. Trump’s rants about Obama’s spying don’t mean a whole lot at this point. Stuck with the coronavirus crisis, Pence has some heaving lifting tonight.
