Republican Strategist: "The President Of The United States Just Accused The FBI Of Treason"

Trump's Blizzard Of Lies David Leonhardt Those fabrications. The blizzard of lies — to quote a Dave Frishberg song — can be overwhelming. The president is willing to lie whenever it suits his purpose. Summoning outrage about each new lie is exhausting, and I understand why people sometimes tune out.

But there is at least one category of lies that demands attention.

A special federal prosecutor and Congress are both investigating Russia’s interference in the 2016 election. The investigation is as serious as they come. It is trying to uncover the truth about a hostile foreign country’s attempts to undermine American interests and national security.

And the president of the United States — whose campaign is a subject of that investigation — keeps lying about it.

He has denounced his intelligence agencies’ findings as a “hoax” and the multiple investigations as a “witch hunt.” His White House has lied about his campaign’s contacts with Russians. He reportedly helped his elder son write an untruthful statement about a meeting with a Russian lawyer. And then the president’s lawyer lied about the drafting of the statement.

Trump added to the blizzard yesterday, with a reckless tweet suggesting that the F.B.I., the Democrats and Russia colluded to compile a dossier with damaging (and speculative) information about his Russia ties.

Take a moment to reflect on this: As Rick Wilson, a Republican strategist, put it, “the president of United States just accused the FBI of engaging in treason with Russia.”

The accusation reminded me of a Lawfare piece written by Bob Bauer, a former White House counsel to Barack Obama. The piece is called, “A President’s Words Matter.” It explains the dire implications of a president who “deliberately and continuously misrepresents to the public the grounds for an ongoing criminal investigation.”

Trump’s repeated lies may — intentionally or not — encourage witnesses to lie to investigators, Bauer notes. They may also make Trump vulnerable to an impeachment charge. One of the articles of impeachment against Richard Nixon alleged “false or misleading public statements for the purpose of deceiving the people of the United States.