A Complete Analysis Of Trump’s 98th Unpresidented Week As POTUS

We're in the endgame now.
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by: Ahmed Baba on December 9, 2018

Special Counsel Robert Mueller (Artwork By Rantt Media Production Designer Madison Anderson)

Special Counsel Robert Mueller (Artwork By Rantt Media Production Designer Madison Anderson)

Trump’s first major typo after winning the election was spelling Unprecedented incorrectly. He infamously tweeted “Unpresidented.” This typo is a personification of his administration: An impulsive, frantically thrown together group of characters with virtually no oversight. After Trump was sworn in, I started writing the weekly “Unpresidented” column, analyzing his every move. This is week 98.

In Special Counsel Robert Mueller, President Donald Trump has met his match.

Devoid of ego and quietly focused on the importance of the task at hand, Mueller has methodically exposed the truth and chipped away at Trump’s deceptive armor, one court filing at a time.

The two are polar opposites in the life choices they’ve made, and the distinct contrasts in their character have never been more apparent.

In response to Trump’s relentless, dishonest attacks on the Special Counsel and his team, does Mueller hold grandstanding press conferences, leak, or release statements? No. Unlike Ken Starr of the Clinton impeachment era, Mueller chooses to make profound statements in indictments and plea agreements. And this week, “Individual 1” heard those statements loud and clear.

There were several court filings that rocked the political world. And the brilliance of Mueller and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein’s decision to offload the investigation into Trump’s former fixer Michael Cohen to the Southern District of New York (SDNY) is bearing fruit.

Mueller’s Tuesday sentencing filing of former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn signaled Mueller received everything he needs from him, and that’s not good for Trump.

The SDNY’s Friday filing indicated the President of the United States has now been officially implicated in two campaign finance felonies with Cohen.

Mueller’s Friday Cohen court filing indicated Cohen informed Trump of his 2015 contacts with the Russian government who sought “political synergy.”

And Mueller’s separate Friday court filing detailed former Trump Campaign Chairman Paul Manafort’s lies, including lies about his contacts with the White House this year.

Meanwhile, markets were rattled by Trump’s trade war with China, alleged election fraud on the part of the GOP continued to be exposed in North Carolina’s 9th district, Republicans’ undemocratic power grabs in Wisconsin and Michigan unfolded, and the White House was rocked by incoming departures. Rats from a sinking ship.

Let’s dive in.

The Witness Tamperer

Day 683: Monday, December 3

Donald Trump, left, is seen outside the Federal Courthouse in Newark, N.J., with Roger Stone, the director of Trump’s presidential exploratory committee Monday, Oct. 25, 1999, for the swearing-in of Trump’s sister as a federal appeals court judge. (AP Photo/Daniel Hulshizer)

Donald Trump, left, is seen outside the Federal Courthouse in Newark, N.J., with Roger Stone, the director of Trump’s presidential exploratory committee Monday, Oct. 25, 1999, for the swearing-in of Trump’s sister as a federal appeals court judge. (AP Photo/Daniel Hulshizer)

On Monday, President Trump decided to interfere with yet another witness in Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation. This time with Roger Stone, who is widely expected to be charged for lying to congressional investigators about his contact with WikiLeaks and knowledge of incoming Clinton email leaks.


Trump also continued his attacks on Mueller.

Once again, Kellyanne Conway’s husband chimed in, citing witness tampering law.

In other news…

Tariff Man And Micheal Flynn

Day 684: Tuesday, December 4

FILE – In this Feb. 1, 2017 file photo, National Security Adviser Michael Flynn speaks during the daily news briefing at the White House, in Washington. Trump says his former national security adviser is right to ask for immunity in exchange for talking about Russia. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

FILE – In this Feb. 1, 2017 file photo, National Security Adviser Michael Flynn speaks during the daily news briefing at the White House, in Washington. Trump says his former national security adviser is right to ask for immunity in exchange for talking about Russia. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

On Tuesday, after much anticipation, Special Counsel Robert Mueller has released the court filing related to President Trump’s former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn. The sentencing documents requested no prison time, citing Flynn’s “substantial assistance” with three investigations during 19 interviews with investigators. It outlined the lies Flynn told about his phone calls about lifting sanctions on Russia with former Russian Ambassador Sergey Kisylak and lies about Flynn’s foreign lobbying. It also has 6 redacted pages that outline the details of his assistance. Needless to say, the lack of prison time cited on the filing signals Flynn provided Mueller with everything he needs. For a deeper dive into how Mueller flipped Flynn in the first place, and how what he may have revealed could incriminate President Trump, read our deep dive from last year.

Among the various investigations plaguing Donald Trump is the probe seeking to determine whether or not the President is violating the emoluments clause of the constitution by profiting from the presidency. On Tuesday, it saw a major development. According to the Associated Press, the Attorneys General of the District of Columbia and Maryland are filing subpoenas to 37 entities, including 13 federal agencies that oversee the Trump International Hotel in DC. As we know, this hotel used to be a Post Office and the government granted Trump the ability to use it for his hotel. Among the entities subpoenaed are the Trump Organization, the Department of Treasury, Department of Defense, and more. There have been numerous allegations of foreign governments staying at the hotel in an effort to curry favor with the President. We will soon know to the extent to which Trump has profited from those efforts, given the fact he has not divested from his businesses.

In other news…

  • After President Trump struck fear over his alleged trade truce with China, the Dow fell 800 points.

  • After CIA Director Gina Haspel briefed the Senate on Saudi Arabia’s murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi, the bipartisan pushback against the White House continued.

  • Michael Avenatti announced he will not run for President in 2020.

Remembering George H.W. Bush

Day 685: Wednesday, December 5

George H. Bush, February 5, 1984. (AP Photo)

George H. Bush, February 5, 1984. (AP Photo)

As the world watched President George H.W. Bush’s funeral, tributes began to pour in on social media. Bush had a complicated legacy. Rantt Editor Jossif Ezekilov succinctly summarized it in his piece:

There were some interesting moments from the funeral.

In other news…

The Day Before Tomorrow

Day 686: Thursday, December 6

President Donald Trump listens to a question during a signing ceremony of the “Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Act,” in the Oval Office of the White House, Friday, Nov. 16, 2018, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

President Donald Trump listens to a question during a signing ceremony of the “Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Act,” in the Oval Office of the White House, Friday, Nov. 16, 2018, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Thursday was a relatively quiet news day, as anticipation of the Friday court filings mounted. Mainly, there were moves on the part of Trump to continue to ignore the dangerous effects of climate change.

Thursday’s headlines:

What Are The Main Takeaways From The Cohen And Manafort Filings?

Day 687: Friday, December 7

President Donald Trump, Michael Cohen, Paul Manafort, Rick Gates, and Michael Flynn. (Rantt Media/AP)

President Donald Trump, Michael Cohen, Paul Manafort, Rick Gates, and Michael Flynn. (Rantt Media/AP)

The day had finally come, and President Trump was not handling it well.

His paranoia was justified. First came the Cohen filings.

Trump’s former fixer Michael Cohen’s plea to the Southern District of New York (SDNY) a few months ago originally implicated the President, but in their court filing on Friday, the SDNY indicated they have found evidence corroborating Cohen’s plea. Likely aided by American Media, Inc. CEO, and longtime Trump ally David Pecker, as well as Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg, who were granted immunity by federal prosecutors in New York.

The filing detailed how the hush money payments to Karen McDougal and Stormy Daniels were directed personally by candidate Donald Trump himself in 2016. Upon Trump’s request, the National Enquirer paid former Playboy Model Karen McDougal $150,000 to purchase and suppress the story about her 2006 affair with Donald Trump. Cohen made the $130,000 hush money payment to Stormy himself.

The Mueller filing detailed some more details surrounding the Trump Tower Moscow deal and indicated Cohen informed Trump of his 2015 contacts with the Russian government who sought “political synergy.”

Then came Mueller’s Manafort court filing explaining how Manafort breached his plea agreement with several demonstrable lies and confirmed that he was indeed in contact with the White House after he was indicted.

In conclusion:

In other news…

Pence’s Chief of Staff who was expected to take Kelly’s job also resigned.

Rats from a sinking ship.

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Unpresidented // Donald Trump / Michael Cohen / Michael Flynn / Paul Manafort / Republican Party / Robert Mueller
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by: Ahmed Baba

Ahmed Baba is the Co-Founder and President of Rantt. Writer of Unpresidented, Ahmed documented and analyzed every day of the Trump presidency. He's also a columnist at The Independent and his work has been cited in The New York Times, The Washington Post, BBC, Rolling Stone, BuzzFeed, The New York Post, The Huffington Post, Yahoo News, Blavity, Newsweek, The Telegraph, and more. He can be reached at [email protected] or found on Twitter @AhmedBaba_.

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