Wednesday was the 419th day of the Trump Administration, and it was perhaps, if this is possible, the strangest day ever. Well, maybe not. But it was strange.
Wednesday was turmoil, chaos, madness -- a day on which Trump:
1. fired his Secretary of State with a Tweet;
2. fired the Under Secretary of State for reading the Secretary of State's statement, saying he was fired with a Tweet;
3. removed his personal assistant who was denied access to classified information from the White House and then rehired him as a "senior advisor" to his Campaign;
4. nominated the hawkish head of the CIA with previous aggressive stances toward Russia to be the Secretary of State;
5. nominated a woman with a known history of overseeing torture to be the head of the CIA;
6. ignored the children all over America who walked out of schools across the nation to protest gun violence #NationalWalkOutDay.
By contrast, Thursday was pretty calm.
Then, almost simultaneously, two events occurred.
One, we learned that Mueller had subpoenaed, not requested, documents from the Trump organization with specific reference to Russia. That's very serious stuff.
Two, Trump who, until Thursday has consistently defended Russia and even attacked U.S. officials investigating Russian interference and disruption in America, joined with Germany, France and the UK in a joint statement, to condemn Russia for its chemical attack on a former spy living in Britain.
The Administration also announced it was imposing some of the sanctions against Russia which the Congress had requested in July 2017.
To review, during 2016, Trump stood out for his warmth toward Putin. His campaign even changed a Republican platform plank on Ukraine to make it more Russia-friendly.
After the election, American intelligence officials announced Russia had intervened to help Trump. In turn, Trump attacked them and emphasized Putin's personal assurances that Russia had not.
Alarmed by Russian interference, in the summer of 2017, Congress passed new sanctions. Trump didn't implement them.
He even admitted, in a television interview with Lester Holt and a conversation with Russian ambassador Kislyak, that he fired FBI Director James Comey over the Russia probe. He routinely denounces Mueller's "witch hunt," even after guilty pleas by Flynn, Papadopoulos and Manafort's ex-deputy, Rick Gates, and indictments by the Special Counsel of Manafort and 13 Russians.
Trump didn't mobilize his administration to counter Russian cyberattacks. The National Security Agency director says Trump hasn't asked him to.
And yet, yesterday, the Trump Administration spoke out, if only tentatively, against Russia.
They sectioned 5 Russian entities and 19 individuals and accused the Russians of ongoing attacks on U.S. energy grid and water, aviation and manufacturing facilities.
This was Trump's most significant anti-Russia move ever.
But no, it is not action, and his language, even about the nerve gas poisoning of the spy and his daughter earned only these mild words from Trump: “It certainly looks like the Russians were behind it." And “We're taking it very seriously, as I think others are."
The New York Times Editorial (March 16) on Trump's tepid response was this: The West's response to Russian aggression has usually been too little, too late, and devoid of the one voice that really matters — President Trump's.
But the issue is less that Trump was so tentative - offering only a weak denunciation, and no fiery Tweet or tirade, but rather why did Trump speak out now?
Why did Trump fire Tillerson, who, from the start of his tenure at State, seems to owe his surprise appointment to the Russian dictator? *
Was it to assuage Putin? Keep in mind that the day before Trump fired Tillerson, the Secretary of State had joined Theresa May in denouncing the Russian poisoning in the UK.
Or did Trump, feeling Mueller's breathe on his neck, act to cleanse his cabinet of the most egregious appointment he made for Putin?
Was Mueller's subpoena then at the root of Trump's newly found half backbone against Russia meddling in America?
Was Trump's attempt at sanctions against Russia, however mild, a PR stunt to confuse Mueller? to baffle America?
Whatever the reason, the White House needs to know - we won't be reassured that Trump did not conspire with Russia during the election and throughout his tenure in office, unless Mueller and the evidence tell us so.
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March 16, 2018.
Post Script.My article on Tiller's appointment to State and his firing is Here.
http://www.voices4hillary.com/did-putin-ask-trump-to-fire-tillerson-today-2547058063.html
Further, with regard to Trump's sudden about face on Russia, there is even wilder speculation that Trump acted because the nerve gas attack by Putin was aimed mostly at an audience of one. I can't deal with that now.
