Trump has his narrative. This week US institutions pushed back.
President Trump, ever the salesman, pushes hard to depict events in ways most favorable to him. His presidency has been an unending narrative of the world as Mr. Trump sees it 鈥� or wishes others to see it 鈥� stitched out of his tweets, press statements edited by him, and his answers to shouted press questions as he pauses en route to a waiting Marine One.
But sometimes reality pushes back against the salesmanship. And this week, other institutions of the American government have pushed back as hard as they ever have, jamming a stick into Trump鈥檚 unspooling narrative of a best-ever presidency and exposing the story鈥檚 exaggerations and flaws.
The disbanding of Trump鈥檚 foundation. Trump鈥檚 retreat after threatening to shut down the government to force Congress to fund his border wall. A federal judge鈥檚 outrage over former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn鈥檚 implication that a devious FBI had tricked him into lying.
Why We Wrote This
President Trump has seen his election as a mandate to recast politics in his image. Recent days show that other branches of the government and the press aren鈥檛 complying.
That last event might be particularly ominous for the White House. The president鈥檚 overarching strategy for dealing with special counsel Robert Mueller鈥檚 Russia investigation has been to attempt to discredit Mr. Mueller and his team and thus undermine their possible conclusions. 鈥淲itch Hunt!鈥� 鈥淣o collusion!鈥� Those are among Trump鈥檚 most often repeated Twitter phrases.
Federal District Court Judge Emmet Sullivan鈥檚 harsh rebuke of former Trump adviser Flynn showed what happens when such a public relations strategy gets exposed to the real world of the courts. At a sentencing hearing, General Flynn and his lawyers essentially tried to have it both ways. In a legal memo, Flynn asked for lenient treatment due to his cooperation with Mueller鈥檚 prosecutors 鈥� but also implied that the FBI had treated him unfairly. Judge Sullivan wasn鈥檛 having it. Under the judge鈥檚 questioning, Flynn admitted he鈥檇 known what he did was wrong, and he accepted responsibility for his actions.
The incident underscored the seriousness of the Russia allegations and the methodical manner in which the legal system is plowing through them.
鈥淲hat happened is Flynn鈥檚 lawyers did this too-cute-by-half argument. I think that backfired,鈥� says Andrew Wright, an investigations lawyer and research scholar at New York University.
Other institutions belittled by the president have demonstrated resilience in recent days. The press 鈥� perhaps Trump鈥檚 favorite target 鈥� is one.
That鈥檚 because reporters played a big role in the demise of the Trump Foundation. In particular, Washington Post reporter David Fahrenthold documented how it acted not as a normal charity but as an arm of the Trump business and campaign. It paid for personal legal settlements and made illegal political donations, for instance. It purchased portraits of Trump. Its largest outlay was to fix the fountain in front of a hotel Trump owned.
New York State Attorney General Barbara Underwood accused it of 鈥渁 shocking pattern of illegality.鈥� New York will continue a lawsuit aimed at recovering restitution and preventing Trump or his children from serving on nonprofits鈥� boards. Meanwhile, under an agreement announced Tuesday, the charity will disband and contribute remaining assets to court-approved organizations.聽
Congress is confronting the White House with a dose of reality as well. The situation remains fluid, but as of this writing the Senate appears poised to pass a short-term funding bill that will keep the government open until Feb. 8, when Democrats will control the House. The bill does not contain money for Trump鈥檚 border wall. Trump, who days ago was promising to shut down the government if Congress didn鈥檛 approve $5 billion in wall funding, has reportedly said he鈥檒l sign the short-term measure.
鈥淲hite House strategy on shutdown appears to be repeating that the president 鈥榠s not going to back down鈥� as he, in fact, backs down鈥� Politico reporter Eliana Johnson on Wednesday as the deal emerged.
As to the Flynn affair, it was widely depicted as a defeat for conservative commentators and others who had said that the independent-minded Judge Sullivan might just throw out Flynn鈥檚 guilty plea, shaking the Mueller investigation to the core. The reason? Alleged FBI misconduct. Flynn was entrapped into lying, his supporters argued, because agents didn鈥檛 tell him that lying to them was a crime and that he could have a lawyer present at their interview.聽
In his sentencing memo, Flynn and his attorneys argued that he had been wronged by the aforementioned FBI moves and by the fact that agents didn鈥檛 tell him his answers weren鈥檛 consistent with what they already knew, allowing him a do-over for correction.
Instead of pitching the guilty plea out, Sullivan threw the book at Flynn. The judge professed 鈥渄isgust鈥� for Flynn鈥檚 actions and made him affirm that he knew he was guilty, knew well that you can鈥檛 lie to the FBI, and so forth. In the end, Flynn鈥檚 lawyers agreed to delay his sentencing, to give Flynn more time to prove his worth to the government as a cooperating witness.
Trump has tweeted in support of Flynn. Echoing some conservative commentators, Trump said that 鈥渢he FBI said he didn鈥檛 lie鈥� and that prosecutors 鈥渨ant to scare everybody into making up stories.鈥�
Prior to the sentencing fireworks on Tuesday, Trump tweeted 鈥淕ood luck in court today to General Michael Flynn.鈥�
That didn鈥檛 happen. Instead, if anything, Sullivan seemed outraged by the leniency of Flynn鈥檚 plea deal, in which prosecutors agreed to ask for no jail time in return for his cooperation. He strongly hinted he was considering locking Flynn up for an undetermined period.
Sometimes judges do that to emphasize the gravity of offenses, says Mr. Wright, who is also a founding editor of Just Security.
鈥淚t鈥檚 about public trust 鈥� 鈥業鈥檒l give you something symbolic so everyone will notice,鈥� 鈥� says Wright.
