Following the mid-terms, I predicted all hell would break loose in the Donald Trump saga, from Robert Mueller to various criminal investigations, to ruinous oversight by a Democrat-led House of Representatives.
All that has either materialised or is pending but I didn’t foresee Trump making a ruinous mis-step by forcing the longest shutdown in American history, for naked political purposes. Last night that shutdown finally came to an end, drawing a rare consensus across the spectrum that the president has been humiliated by Nancy Pelosi – a longstanding hate figure to Republicans.
Pelosi forces humiliating climbdown on border wall
Trump has been forced to back down on his unrealistic demands for taxpayers to finance the border wall he’d promised Mexico would pay for. His signature policy is dead and ‘dealmaker’ brand in tatters. Critically, power has shifted in Washington.
In denying the president his state of the union speech until the government re-opened, Pelosi demonstrated the new order in Congress. Democrats now control the House and will do everything they can to obstruct, investigate and bring Trump down. 2019 will be a year of hell that may well remove him from office.
Mueller closing in with Stone indictment
Many believe the shutdown was initiated to divert attention from the constant stream of shocking revelations from Robert Mueller and over a dozen criminal investigations. That probably worked to some extent, as yesterday’s indictment of long-term confidant and ally Roger Stone was shunted down the news order.
To get a scale of Stone’s proximity to Trump, check out the words of Paul Manafort – recently convicted on multiple counts including conspiracy against the USA, alongside a former Russian military intelligence officer, and witness tampering. Trump’s former campaign manager is looking at spending the rest of his life in prison unless receiving a pardon.
In Paul Manafort’s own words:
”Roger’s relationship with Trump has been so interconnected that it’s hard to define what’s Roger and what’s Donald.” pic.twitter.com/w1C6aAXAbh
— Ryan Goodman (@rgoodlaw) January 25, 2019