How Trump Could Succeed In Causing A Constitutional Crisis

Read Time:10 Minute, 8 Second

by Mark Bear

For months we have heard from Trump and surrogates that the entire investigation into the Russians interfering with our presidential election with the goal, “of seeing Trump elected to President,” was a hoax, a fake news story, something we each should ignore. How insulting. Why?

Because it seems that each day this past year, we have had a new story demonstrating that the “there” Trump and his administration insists is not there, is increasingly becoming clearer that it IS there everywhere.

We have had reports of several cabinet officials from the Administration lying on their disclosure forms regarding whether they had “any contacts with a foreign entity.” The Attorney General has basically lied no less than four times under oath, with his story regularly being amended regarding whether he had “contact with any Russians during the campaign.”

We have heard reports of an offshore bank in Cyprus funneling monies, stories of offshore bank accounts used whose CEO of such banks having Russian ties, and a man closely affiliated with Trump during the campaign and then serving on Trump’s transition team being the target of a FBI investigation. We also learned through print media how former Director of the Bureau, James Comey, was asked for what could only be described by him as requesting “a loyalty oath” by the President, only for Comey to be fired without notice or cause.

Prior to that termination however, we also heard reporting that Mr. Comey was asked by Trump “whether Comey could let the Flynn thing go now, could he see his way past the matter.” To all of these reports, the standard answer has been by default, “Nothing to see here, it’s a big ‘nothing-burger‘ so move it along, will you? Actually, with each passing day it is becoming clearer that the “nothing-burger” the Administration insists this is, turns out to be a huge Whopper.

Then came the Papadopoulos indictment, a plea of guilty, along with cooperation with Special Counsel Robert Mueller. Again, we were told by the Administration through Sarah Huckabee Sanders that “Papadopoulos was a “volunteer for the Trump campaign,” a coffee runner for the campaign,” and oh just never mind about the picture which shows Papadopoulos sitting at a table with the future Attorney General and President during the transition. Perhaps he was brewing the coffee at that moment, huh?

And the revelations continued to surface through our print media doing their jobs.

Of course, with our relentless print media continuing to do their jobs, we saw a report on how Mr. Papadopoulos proposed “a meeting between the Trump team and Russian politicos with some outlets going so far as to report that Trump’s campaign “green-lighted that meeting.”  Whatever their reason, we know not, and honestly it really doesn’t matter. Because you see, here is the deal: It is not illegal to meet with foreign powers while going through a transition. What IS illegal is LYING about meeting or trying to meet with those foreign powers to the FBI. Still though, the administration – and Trump – continued insulting the intelligence of the American people by telling us “nothing to see here,” an entire hoax.

The “real” investigation which ought to be taking place according to Trump and GOP lawmakers is the sale of Uranium through a company called Uranium One and the way Trump’s political opponent should be “locked up” for her involvement in such a deal.

But there is a bigly problem with Trump’s diversion here, and about the only people buying what Trump was peddling about that uranium fiction were his supporters and those who persist in disdaining his political opponent for whatever personal reasons they may have. The fact-checking sources consistent conclusion regarding this diversion, including The New York Times most recent reporting on the fictional scandal, reiterates the essential facts: Trump’s political opponent had nothing to do with the sale of the uranium, no uranium has left the country, and the deal was brokered by “several agencies within the government.”

Adding insult to injury, Trump intimates that his former political opponent’s husband and “their Foundation” who arguably engages in much needed philanthropic work throughout the globe, profited from the deal. Another problem: While Bill Clinton did, in fact speak in Russia representing his Foundation, that speech took place well before the sale of the uranium, with the events so mutually exclusive that many fact-checking sources rate the entire claim as “False.”

Maybe the Ringling Brothers Circus went out of business the year Trump was sworn into office due to Trump now being the “greatest show on earth.”

Then we had the Paul Manafort and Rick Gates indictments for money laundering and tax fraud with Russian connection overtures.  And what were the American people told once again? Mr. Manafort despite his being the Campaign Chair for a significant portion of the campaign, was a “nobody,” a “volunteer,” like Mr. Papadopoulos. To be clear: It is the administration’s persistent defense of he or she is “just a volunteer” that rightfully raises suspicion, as most people realize a person is not going to commit his or her life to a cause for nothing in return. Altruistic behavior does exist, but it certainly is not a staple in the world of politics.

And so, when Mr. Manafort and Gates went before a judge thanks to Special Counsel Bob Mueller bringing a laundry list of charges against them, with both pleading not guilty, in predictable fashion the Trump Administration continues to deny any wrongdoing. There simply is no ‘there’ there according to them. Of course, we are to believe Mr. Trump seeking advice from his staff, as to “how far his pardoning power could go,” should “he wish to pre-emptively pardon those enmeshed in the scandal, as reported once again in print media, is according to Trump, once again, “fake news.”

And folks, honestly: I could provide so many more examples of these type of incidents occurring since Trump was sworn into office, however space constraints will not allow me to do so. Furthermore, it is simply overwhelming, isn’t it? For example, we have the recent report through print media that Michael Flynn texted his business partner telling him “project on,” as Trump was being sworn into office. By the way: “The Project,” Mr. Flynn was discussing with his partner had Russian involvement too. While Newsweek perpetuates the myth that it is a crime to collude with Russia, it only adds more evidence that a connection exists between Russia and those in his orbit.

So, you really have to ask yourselves: What are the chances this is all one big coincidence?

What ARE the chances folks? What are the chances that each and every one of these events are coincidences? How is it that Trump’s entire orb of influence provides us with a laundry list of people who have had some form of communication with the Russians, and then lied about it, and only once reports surfaced admitted the communication, only to spin the story in a new direction.

Remember Donald Junior’s meeting with the Russian lawyer – highly connected to the Kremlin, one who originally was just “speaking to Donald Junior” about The Magnitsky Act, only to later find out several people from Trump’s transition took the meeting, along with other Russians. Oh, and that Magnitsky Act thing? Turns out that Trump Junior was actually attending that meeting to collect “dirt” on his father’s political opponent, to which he responded, “I love it.”

And what do we make of the stonewalling, the constant misdirection into the investigation, Congressional Republicans asking every question of witnesses other than Russia, and the fact that it has also been reported that Trump also approached those in the Senate who could get to the bottom of the matter, to “back off?” Let me be clear: Senator Richard Burr, who was part of Trump’s transition told reporters he was approached by Mr. Trump, asking him to “shut down the investigation.” Why would someone do that if they had nothing to hide?

And now the latest: Remember Mr. Trump’s persistent rejoicing over Wikileaks? One could not hear a single speech it seemed from Trump during the campaign without hearing “Wikileaks! Wikileaks! Boy I love Wikileaks. Wikileaks! Wikileaks; Boy you got to love Wikileaks! Remember his pleas to the Russians: “If any of you Russians are listening, and you can find the missing emails (referencing his political opponent) I am sure you will be heavily awarded by our media.” Actually it is recorded that he praised Wikileaks no less than five times.

According to CNN, President Trump, Donald Trump Jr. and others in the Trump Organization were provided access to hacked Wikileaks documents amid the 2016 presidential campaign.

According to that same report, the President, his son and other members of his team received an email with a decryption key and web address for the hacked documents on Sept. 4. 2016.

It came only a few weeks before WikiLeaks and Trump Jr. began an exchange through direct messages on Twitter. The President’s eldest son released the correspondence— which began in September 2016 — on the social media platform last month.

Any bets as to how the Administration will respond to this most damning news, this time? If you are thinking it to be anything other than “nothing to see; nothing here, move it along,” you are kidding yourself. The reality is the President, those within his Administration, even those supportive of him as a surrogate all deny the realities we witness each day through the reporting of print journalism, yet nobody within Trump’s sphere can point to a single inaccuracy by print media into this matter, can they? No.

So, where does this leave each of us as citizens of the United States?

Glad you asked: My point is that I actually am of the persuasion as a political writer and analyst that Mr. Mueller could hold a press conference tomorrow morning, – which would not be soon enough – documenting pictures of people from Trump’s campaign and the Russians meeting in person, receipts, documents, voice recordings, indictments of lies, even possibly indictments of “obstruction of justice,” and I fear not a darned thing will result in the end.

Read: Is Donald Trump Ending American Democracy?

I have a great friend who posted the following on my wife’s Wall on Facebook this past week, and I honestly believe it applies:

“At this point, they could find Trump raping a bound woman, watching child pornography, shooting Mexican immigrants, in the Oval Office lit with burning Bibles, with bags of classified documents addressed to Putin, smoking a crack pipe, and the conservative Republicans would say, ‘You’re taking that out of context.'”

A bit hyperbolic? Perhaps, but the point is salient. Case in point: The video below was taken from my home state and county of Northampton County, Pennsylvania. “Even IF he had to cheat to get in, referring to Trump, I’m okay with that.”

Which leads to my conclusion, folks: Even if Bob Mueller were to present in the most persuasive of terms, that Trump did work together with the Russians to steal this election, my fear is that THIS man, even should Congress impeach, and the Senate convict, will NOT leave office, leading to one of the greatest constitutional crises in our nation’s history. He persists in attacking our media, “calling the system rigged,” all while telling Americans the “real” problem isn’t him, or what he is accused of, but his former political opponent. Apparently, his supporters are buying it too.

Trump is laying the groundwork to make nearly 61 million people question the integrity of such reports. Worse, it appears – especially in my former home town – they do not even care if he did work with Russians to get into office. And that folks, should concern each and every last one of us.

I would really love for you to connect with me on Facebook so we can hold this administration to account. Don’t forget to follow me on Twitter as well.  Remember there is strength in numbers.

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Bill Formby
6 years ago

Great job Mark. I agree with you that if we instituted impeachment proceedings against him and was convicted by the Senate he may well refuse to acknowledge it. He may call it fake news at which time U.S. Marshals would be ordered to remove him from the White House. This would end up in a bloody (literally) mess because there is a group of his supporters who likely take to the street claiming he was framed. Trump has used tactics similar to those of a number of dictators to seize power. In fact, he is basically using the same tactics as the one he calls the “Little Rocket Man.” Once he totally destroys or totally destroys the free press there is nothing more to stop him. We will have a small revolution on our hands with militia taking to the woodlands of America and attacking the establishment. Yes it is getting that far.

Dr. Mark Bear
6 years ago

TO ALL:

I am aware of the date change and original error made by CNN with their report. I placed the quote in the article due for the purpose of accuracy. I should have clarified that it has since been discovered that CNN originally and erroneously reported the memo’s date as September 4 and has since corrected to September 14,TH.

I will attempt to be more accurate in the future by making clear any changes in original reporting.

Finally, it should be clear that the date does not take away from the fact that Donald Trump Junior did in fact, have some sort of involvement – according to several sources with Wikileaks.

This is exactly what is so difficult about reporting in this current climate. Should we be inaccurate we feed the narrative that the media is fake, while also opening ourselves up to further scrutiny from the Administration.

Thank you for pointing this out to me on my Wall.

6 years ago

I’m very much afraid that he won’t be impeached, regardless of any evidence Mueller and his team might gather. The congress will just say it’s fake news, and that Mueller was biased. They are already starting the process. I fear for America.

Cheryl Curtis
6 years ago

Good presentation of facts for this country.

For my friends who continue to repeatedly have the “IMPEACH” knee jerk reaction, I fear two things: 1) Until evidence is officially presented, each call for impeachment hurts your case/cause like the boy who cries wolf. It weakens the position instead of strengthening it.
2) You will be disappointed. No matter how damning any evidence may be, nothing will be accomplished. The woman at the end of the video in this article is correct in saying no one wants to admit being fleeced by anyone, especially a the president of the country.

Dawn1966
6 years ago

This is a good article but I confess I speed read it, because of it’s length. Too much to do to spend that much time. That being said I agree with you Mark. Thanks for what you do.

Glenn R. Geist
6 years ago

But it’s so much more than “cheating” isn’t it? Selling relief from sanctions in exchange for money as well as assistance in defeating enemies is really beyond any of the excuses people are giving for supporting him. And of course that’s only a small part of the quid pro quo. He’s corrupted everything and is eliminating any agency that contradict him or censure him or throw his ass in jail. Selling green cards to investors while deporting people who contribute to our country? Selling foreign policy? buying stolen property? It’s so far beyond mere cheating some would consider it treason.

I imagine Moses struggling all the way down that mountain to find the people he had shepherded so long worshiping the Golden Pig. Yes, the devil is in the details and so is Donald Trump and the bulk of his party and a good chunk of the greedy, angry deluded electorate.

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