A Complete Breakdown Of Donald Trump’s 50th Unstable Week As POTUS
“He’s going to unravel, and we are seeing the signs.”
— Yale University psychiatry professor Dr. Bandy X. Lee briefing a dozen lawmakers on Capitol Hill
Wow. What a start to the new year. Where do I even begin?
If you have a pair of eyes and ears, chances are you’ve noticed that there is something a bit…off with our President.
Impulsive outbursts, an affinity for conspiracy theories, and an aversion to facts: President Trump has deluded himself into an alternate reality.
This week, Michael Wolff’s book “Fire and Fury” corroborated several months of reporting and sparked a much needed national conversation about the President — Is Donald Trump’s mental health deteriorating?
The 25th Amendment wasn’t the only thing on people’s minds this week. The beef between Donald Trump and his former Chief Strategist Steve Bannon dominated headlines for much of the week as the future of the once tight-knit power couple remains up in the air.
Meanwhile, the Trump administration and the GOP made a series of consequential moves that didn’t get nearly enough attention.
The Trump administration moved to expand offshore drilling, targeted legal marijuana, moved to make it more difficult for defrauded students seeking loan forgiveness, and froze aid to Pakistan.
The DOJ is investigating the political opponent of the President of the United States after he publicly called for her to be jailed.
And the GOP is openly probing the person who helped expose Russian interference rather than the perpetrators themselves.
Despite all of this, the Trump-Russia investigation moved full speed ahead, with Robert Mueller lazer-focused on seeking the justice this President is desperately trying to obstruct.
Here’s a complete breakdown of Donald Trump’s 50th week as POTUS:
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New Years Day — Monday, January 1
George Papa-Plea Agreement Back At It Again
By far the biggest story in the final days of 2017 was The New York Times’ report. It completely dismantled the GOP’s narrative that the Christopher Steele dossier is what sparked the Trump-Russia investigation. It was in fact, non-other than George Papadopoulos:
During a night of heavy drinking at an upscale London bar in May 2016, George Papadopoulos, a young foreign policy adviser to the Trump campaign, made a startling revelation to Australia’s top diplomat in Britain: Russia had political dirt on Hillary Clinton.
About three weeks earlier, Mr. Papadopoulos had been told that Moscow had thousands of emails that would embarrass Mrs. Clinton, apparently stolen in an effort to try to damage her campaign.
Exactly how much Mr. Papadopoulos said that night at the Kensington Wine Rooms with the Australian, Alexander Downer, is unclear. But two months later, when leaked Democratic emails began appearing online, Australian officials passed the information about Mr. Papadopoulos to their American counterparts, according to four current and former American and foreign officials with direct knowledge of the Australians’ role.
The hacking and the revelation that a member of the Trump campaign may have had inside information about it were driving factors that led the F.B.I. to open an investigation in July 2016 into Russia’s attempts to disrupt the election and whether any of President Trump’s associates conspired.
After George Papadopoulos pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI in January of 2017 about his attempts to set up meetings between President Trump, his campaign, and the Russian Government in an attempt to obtain “dirt” on Hillary Clinton, the Trump administration dismissed him as a mere “coffee boy.” The New York Times report also revealed that this was not the case:
While some of Mr. Trump’s advisers have derided him as an insignificant campaign volunteer or a “coffee boy,” interviews and new documents show that he stayed influential throughout the campaign. Two months before the election, for instance, he helped arrange a New York meeting between Mr. Trump and President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi of Egypt.
With Papadopoulos’ guilty plea, we discovered who he emailed about the potential Russian meetings. The indictment claims that Papadopoulos told a “Senior Policy Advisor,” “Campaign Supervisor,” and “High-Ranking Campaign Official” about the efforts. White House adviser to the U.S. Department of Agriculture Sam Clovis (former*, he resigned after this news and was questioned by Robert Mueller the previous week) was one of the campaign members who encouraged Papadopoulos to pursue a trip and foster ties with the Russian government. Corey Lewandowski and campaign chairman Paul Manafort were also involved in the email exchanges. We also learned more about what Attorney General Jeff Sessions President Trump knew.
CNN reported that in the March 2016 meeting (Instagram photo above), Papadopoulos told everyone in the room, including Donald Trump and Jeff Sessions, about how he could utilize his contact in London to arrange a meeting between Donald Trump, his campaign, and the Russian government…and Donald Trump didn’t oppose the idea. It was Jeff Sessions who said it would be a bad idea. Sessions, of course, denied knowledge of any arrangements to meet with Russians during many sworn testimonies.
The New York Times report indicated that this wasn’t the last time Papadopoulos attempted to set up meetings with Russians…
If the campaign wanted Mr. Papadopoulos to stand down, previously undisclosed emails obtained by The Times show that he either did not get the message or failed to heed it. He continued for months to try to arrange some kind of meeting with Russian representatives, keeping senior campaign advisers abreast of his efforts.
Some speculated that this latest leak from the FBI indicates that they are fed up with Trump’s attacks, and that in 2018, we may see a new approach…
Timing of this story is interesting, coming 4 days after Trump’s false dossier tweets, which also impugned the FBI. The FBI largely treated the Trump campaign & subsequently the Trump presidency w kid gloves. But this may indicate the gloves are coming off. https://t.co/MgdO2OlaFZ
Meanwhile…
- More women than ever before are running for Governor. The Washington Post reports:
This year, at least 79 women — 49 Democrats and 30 Republicans — are running for governor or seriously considering it…The numbers are more than double what they were four years ago and on track to surpass the record 34 women who ran for governor in 1994.
- President Trump took shots at Iran and Pakistan.
The United States has foolishly given Pakistan more than 33 billion dollars in aid over the last 15 years, and they have given us nothing but lies & deceit, thinking of our leaders as fools. They give safe haven to the terrorists we hunt in Afghanistan, with little help. No more!
Iran is failing at every level despite the terrible deal made with them by the Obama Administration. The great Iranian people have been repressed for many years. They are hungry for food & for freedom. Along with human rights, the wealth of Iran is being looted. TIME FOR CHANGE!
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Tuesday, January 2
Out Of Control
The president decided to start his year off on the same foot he ended 2017 with: Tweets that made the public question his grasp of reality.
Crooked Hillary Clinton’s top aid, Huma Abedin, has been accused of disregarding basic security protocols. She put Classified Passwords into the hands of foreign agents. Remember sailors pictures on submarine? Jail! Deep State Justice Dept must finally act? Also on Comey & others
Donald Trump continued his authoritarian calls to jail his political opponents. This time his target was Hillary Clinton’s aide Huma Abedin. This was prompted by a report that claimed Abedin “ forwarded sensitive State Department emails, including passwords to government systems, to her personal Yahoo email account.”
The fact he wanted Abedin to go to “Jail!” for using her personal email account to handle classified information is beyond hypocritical. President Trump loves to give the impression that he cares deeply about protecting classified information, but he revealed highly classified intelligence to Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in the Oval Office. Trump also allowed unregistered foreign agent Michael Flynn into classified national security briefings. And when it comes to his false anger over the use of personal email accounts for government work, President Trump should start with his own administration…
As @realDonaldTrump calls on his political opponent’s aide to be jailed for using personal email, a reminder of who else has used personal email accounts for government work: Ivanka Trump Jared Kushner Steve Bannon Reince Priebus Gary Cohn Stephen Miller https://t.co/JzgliYrGXV
Trump’s mention of the DOJ as the “deep state” is yet another way that Trump degrades America’s confidence in its institutions.
We cannot overstate this: When @realDonaldTrump and the @GOP call the Justice Department and FBI the “deep state,” it plays right into Putin’s goal of undermining Americans’ faith in our institutions. This is a new level of putting party over country. https://t.co/Llb2VWDpvQ
POTUS on 12/28: “I have the absolute right to do what I want with the Justice Department.” Today he slanders career DOJ professionals as “deep state,” calls for prison for a political opponent, and tries to sic DOJ on a potential witness against him. Beyond abnormal; dangerous. https://t.co/eW4MCIEOGB
Speaking of “beyond abnormal” and dangerous behavior coming from the President, he didn’t stop there. After sending out some additional tweets attacking the media and North Korea, President Trump responded to North Korean Dictator Kim Jong-un’s speech where the despot claimed: “the button for nuclear weapons is on my table.”
North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un just stated that the “Nuclear Button is on his desk at all times.” Will someone from his depleted and food starved regime please inform him that I too have a Nuclear Button, but it is a much bigger & more powerful one than his, and my Button works!
He also announced a fake awards show to disparage the media.
I will be announcing THE MOST DISHONEST & CORRUPT MEDIA AWARDS OF THE YEAR on Monday at 5:00 o’clock. Subjects will cover Dishonesty & Bad Reporting in various categories from the Fake News Media. Stay tuned!
Our take on the tweets of the day was clear.
@realDonaldTrump Donald Trump cares more about feeding his ego than America’s national security. His tweets today were reckless and more befitting of a childish, senile despot than the President of the United States. Hope those tax cuts were worth your soul @GOP. #25thAmendmentNow
If you love our country, help me put this lunacy in check. Tell @realDonaldTrump this is not normal behavior. Any @HouseGOP members want to make sure Congress has some say before he pushes that button? https://t.co/qI7pVc3I5I
Gotta be honest: On a night like tonight, I’m still pretty pissed at those journalists and news organizations which treated Hillary Clinton’s email server as a matter of apocalyptic importance.
He loses his cool at the slightest provocation…imagine him in the Oval Office facing a real crisis… A man you can bait with a tweet is not a man we can trust with nuclear weapons”-@HillaryClinton https://t.co/bkLCd93Ble
Meanwhile…
- Republican Utah Senator Orrin Hatch announced he would not be seeking reelection this year, clearing the way for Mitt Romney.
- The Fusion GPS founders published a scathing op-ed in The New York Times defending their work with Christopher Steele and the Trump-Russia dossier as well as exposing the GOP’s efforts to deflect from the heart of the investigation.
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Wednesday, January 3
Fire And Fury
As America was grappling with yet another reminder that the nuclear codes are in the hands of a man who can’t control his Twitter fingers, a bombshell dropped.
Bannon…warned that the investigation into alleged collusion with the Kremlin will focus on money laundering and predicted: ‘They’re going to crack Don Junior like an egg on national TV.'” So this is why @realDonaldTrump was freaking out last night https://t.co/xlYzh39kow
Excerpts from Michael Wolff’s exposé of the White House began hitting the press. From Steve Bannon disparaging Trump’s family to White House aides’ serious concerns about Trump’s mental health, the details were beyond damning.
Steve Bannon: “You realize where this is going. This is all about money laundering.” He’s right. @realDonaldTrump‘s tangled web of LLCs and sketchy deals with Russian oligarchs overpaying for properties builds quite the clear case for money laundering https://t.co/sqV866xJ9d
BREAKING: In new book Steve Bannon is quoted talking about the 2016 Trump Tower meeting, “The chance that Don. Jr did not walk these Jumos up to his father’s office on the 26th floor is zero.” Tune in to @MSNBC for more. https://t.co/hhzEOu26L4
— @MSNBC
Steve Bannon claims he’s certain @DonaldJTrumpJr took the Russian operatives to meet @realDonaldTrump on June 9, 2016 at Trump Tower. If true, means Trump Sr was knowingly colluding with a foreign adversary when he called for Russia to find Clinton emails/Wikileaks shoutouts. https://t.co/w35J8yKXAU
Bannon also called Ivanka Trump “dumb as a brick.” It appears that Bannon was the primary contact for Michael Wolff when he ran several interviews in the White House. As expected, President Trump was not happy. Rather than wait for Bannon to deliver his inevitable apology, Trump went after him, causing Bannon to lose the financial support of the Mercer family and Breitbart’s board to question his involvement with the company.
Trump statement: “Steve Bannon has nothing to do with me or my Presidency. When he was fired, he not only lost his job, he lost his mind.” Via pool
— @Acosta
MERCERS OUT: Bannon’s recent behavior has lost him the financial backing of a major patron and supporter of his projects – Rebekah Mercer. @jdawsey1, @PostRoz and I report. https://t.co/HF4Fl4eDwB
SCOOP: The Mercers split from Steve Bannon was so complete – & so bitter – that they cut off funding for Bannon’s private security detail. More juicy details TK as we update our story. https://t.co/SXrjOD3miD
They later sent a cease and desist letter.
BREAKING – Attorneys for President Trump send Steve Bannon a cease and desist letter citing the non disclosure agreement he signed during the campaign https://t.co/jDybwQenJ2
Question’s swirled as to how this would affect the Trump base. Who had more influence over them? Trump or Bannon? The answer was clearly Trump.
There were some notable excerpts that claimed Trump didn’t really want, or expect, to win the election and was positioning himself for a Trump TV network. Some that detailed a dinner between Steve Bannon and the late Roger Ailes and others that referred to additional instances of Trump’s misogyny. Also, this:
Pix sent me from Fire & Fury. Delighted I trouble Trump when comparing his presidency to Watergate. Getting him to see that was one of my hopes in becoming a CNN contributor. But I never figured Trump would make Nixon look good – at least RN wasn’t incompetent, just dishonest.
There have been some questions as to the accuracy of the book given a couple errors but by far the biggest theme of the book was corroborated by months of reporting from various news outlets: The concerns about Trump’s deteriorating mental health from people close to him.
This @realDonaldTrump anecdote is frightening.
These excerpts matched a pattern of forgetfulness we’ve seen in the President as well as his odd grade-school style of speaking. Needless to say, the public had some serious questions about whether or not the President is mentally fit to serve.
Trump’s mental instability & intellectual inadequacy should’ve gotten this level of coverage for years Unstable during the campaign. Unstable from day 1 in office. Remember the leaked call with Australia? I’m glad it’s finally hit MSM but he had me at ‘Obama was born in Kenya’
And to think I wrote a piece on how the 25th Amendment should be invoked after I read the transcripts to Trump’s call with the Australian Prime Minister back in February. Oh my, how young we all were. Had no idea what was to come.
Donald Trump Is Unstable — And He Could Be Removed From Office
Meanwhile…
- As questions around the President’s mental health swirled, Politico reported:
Lawmakers concerned about President Donald Trump’s mental state summoned Yale University psychiatry professor Dr. Bandy X. Lee to Capitol Hill last month for two days of briefings about his recent behavior.
In private meetings with more than a dozen members of Congress held on Dec. 5 and 6, Lee briefed lawmakers — all Democrats except for one Republican senator, whom Lee declined to identify. Her professional warning to Capitol Hill: “He’s going to unravel, and we are seeing the signs.”
In an interview, she pointed to Trump “going back to conspiracy theories, denying things he has admitted before, his being drawn to violent videos.” Lee also warned, “We feel that the rush of tweeting is an indication of his falling apart under stress. Trump is going to get worse and will become uncontainable with the pressures of the presidency.”
- Newly elected Alabama Senator Doug Jones and Al Franken’s replacement Tina Smith were sworn into office.
Watch: Democrats Doug Jones and Tina Smith are sworn in to the U.S. Senate. https://t.co/bU2MkeXVMn
Photo of the decade: Doug Jones being sworn in, while his openly gay son QUIETLY DISINTEGRATES THE SOUL OF MIKE PENCE.
- Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and FBI Director Christopher Wray met with Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) about documents that House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes was requesting from the DOJ about the handling of the Trump-Russia dossier. As we saw later in the week, the DOJ capitulated to Nunes’ demands, and Paul Ryan supported Nunes’.
- CNN reported:
North Korea and South Korea established contact on a hotline that’s been dormant for almost two years Wednesday, a major diplomatic breakthrough following a year of escalating hostility and a move that could pave the way for future talks.
- News of Betsy DeVos’ latest moves towards defrauded students was revealed but didn’t receive much coverage.
While the Trump-Bannon breakup and Trump’s mental instability have dominated the news cycle, @BetsyDeVosED has been quietly pushing yet another proposal that would make it more difficult for defrauded students to receive student loan forgiveness https://t.co/zhXDDshB49
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Thursday, January 4
Obstruction Of Justice
There have been numerous reports since Trump fired Comey that depict a president who was eager to end the investigation into his campaign’s potential collusion with Russia, and from what we got from Comey’s testimony, that appears to be the case. Comey’s prepared opening statement confirmed President Trump’s demand for loyalty in a private dinner, Trump’s request to end the FBI’s investigation into former national security adviser Michael Flynn, and that Comey did indeed write detailed memos of all his interactions with Trump. And recent news, as well as Trump’s own admission, confirmed that Trump was told that Flynn lied to the FBI before he asked Comey to back off the investigation.
Perhaps the most damning details were released in a January 4, 2018, New York Times report that the White House Counsel Don McGahn tried to lobby Attorney General Jeff Sessions to not recuse himself from the Trump-Russia investigation so that Trump could be protected. Also, four days before Trump fired Comey, an aide of Sessions tried to find dirt on James Comey.
These details combined with President Trump’s own admission that he had the Trump-Russia investigation in mind when he fired Comey and his comments to Russian officials in the Oval Office further bolstering this admission, has left many thinking the president was trying to halt the FBI’s investigation. Some are going as far as to say there is an obstruction of justice case to be made against Trump. Obstruction of justice was President Richard Nixon’s First Article of Impeachment. These are serious charges, and given the evidence, these charges should be taken seriously.
Trump’s Obstruction: Jan 26-Yates warns McGahn about Flynn’s lying (McGahn tells Trump) Feb 14-Trump asks Comey to back off Flynn March & May-Sessions’ aide seeks dirt on Comey May 9-Comey fired Many times-Trump admits he fired Comey to end ??probe https://t.co/qlqsZ8kf68
Meanwhile…
- Attorney General Jeff Sessions rescinded an Obama-era policy of federal non-interference with states who legalized marijuana.
Jeff Sessions’ swipe at legal marijuana is not only his latest attempt to boost mass incarceration, it’s bad for business. States who legalize Marijuana are seeing surges in revenue. By 2020, Marijuana is expected to produce more jobs than manufacturing. https://t.co/geOhOtcj0Y
- The White House banned all personal devices from use by government employees while at work.
- A Virginia delegate race was decided by pulling a name from a bowl after one vote created a tie. The Republican won, giving them a 51–49 majority in the house of delegates.
- Trump’s Voter Fraud Commission (which was a fraud within itself) was finally disbanded. Not without some departing words from Trump, of course.
Many mostly Democrat States refused to hand over data from the 2016 Election to the Commission On Voter Fraud. They fought hard that the Commission not see their records or methods because they know that many people are voting illegally. System is rigged, must go to Voter I.D.
- After President Trump tried to get the publisher to remove “Fire and Fury” from bookshelves, Michael Wolff announced it would be released to the public early…And he also said that there are tapes.
I authorized Zero access to White House (actually turned him down many times) for author of phony book! I never spoke to him for book. Full of lies, misrepresentations and sources that don’t exist. Look at this guy’s past and watch what happens to him and Sloppy Steve!
Here we go. You can buy it (and read it) tomorrow. Thank you, Mr. President.
- President Trump froze all aid to Pakistan.
- President Trump made yet another environmentally reckless move by announcing that his administration would permit offshore drilling in nearly all American coastal waters.
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Friday, January 5
GOP Complicity
After the events of Friday, it might be time to ask some serious questions about what was in the emails Russia stole from the RNC. The GOP’s complicity in helping Trump get away with trying to obstruct Mueller’s investigation is getting out of hand.
This is how you challenge @GOP sycophants spreading disinformation. Watch @KatyTurNBC destroy @Jim_Jordan‘s lies about the Christopher Steele dossier. https://t.co/2Gvh2AGRao
After this interview, we learned of the first criminal referral from Congress in the Trump-Russia investigation. After several months of investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election and the Trump campaign’s potential collusion, the first criminal referral the Senate Judiciary Committee made was for the man who set out to expose it: Christopher Steele.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R- IA) and Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) claimed that made “potentially false statements about the distribution of claims from the dossier.”
This effort is in line with what we’ve been seeing from the right. What at first started on the far-right has now seeped into mainstream Republican dogma. There’s been a coordinated effort by the GOP, right-wing media, and the White House to discredit Robert Mueller’s investigation and direct attention towards Hillary Clinton. From Uranium One to the dossier funding, the GOP has been on witch hunt after witch hunt… Well, it appears the Justice Department is heeding the demands of the President.
On Thursday, we discovered that the DOJ is looking into Hillary Clinton and her aides’ use of a private email server again and is investigating whether there was any pay-to-play within the Clinton Foundation. (A reminder: The Trump Foundation had to shut down because of their illegal conduct.)
Trump to Clinton in 2016: “If I win, I am going to instruct my AG…to look into your situation.” Later says, “you’d be in jail.” Trump has since called on DOJ to investigate Clinton & her aide to be jailed.
These are dangerous developments and the American people must be ready for whatever may come. It’s becoming increasingly more likely the GOP will protect Trump if he fires Mueller.
Meanwhile…
- President Trump continued to express his frustrations with Michael Wolff’s book.
Well, now that collusion with Russia is proving to be a total hoax and the only collusion is with Hillary Clinton and the FBI/Russia, the Fake News Media (Mainstream) and this phony new book are hitting out at every new front imaginable. They should try winning an election. Sad!
Michael Wolff is a total loser who made up stories in order to sell this really boring and untruthful book. He used Sloppy Steve Bannon, who cried when he got fired and begged for his job. Now Sloppy Steve has been dumped like a dog by almost everyone. Too bad!
- Oh, and we have a new nickname for Bannon.
The Mercer Family recently dumped the leaker known as Sloppy Steve Bannon. Smart!
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Saturday, January 6
“Stable Genius”
A lot to unpack here: @realDonaldTrump called himself “like, really smart” and “a very stable genius.” He also seems to be comparing the questions about his mental stability to questions about Ronald Reagan’s mental stability… Ronald Reagan had Alzheimer’s.
As questions of Trump’s mental health dominated headlines, President Trump took to Twitter to claim that he is in fact, not stupid or, like, unstable.
In case you were wondering, this was Fox at 7:10 am this morning. The president’s tweet at 7:20 am. https://t.co/E68vHEbRSF
Comparing himself to Reagan in this instance isn’t very “genius” of him, given the fact questions about Reagan’s mental health were later validated when his family revealed that he had Alzheimer’s disease.
This was a tough week. A lot to digest and process moving forward. For now, let’s just enjoy the memes.
stablegenius you say
Here’s the only other #StableGenius I know of. https://t.co/00UaM5ppLm
This will never get old #stablegenius https://t.co/i81PbCAlAe
