The investigation inched forward into Russia’s links to the Trump campaign and its meddling in the 2016 US election, as attorney general Jeff Sessions faced the Senate and the president appeared to admit for the first time that he is personally under FBI investigation.
Last weekend
Donald Trump spent the weekend complaining on Twitter about the “#fakenews MSM” failing to report what he called “great economic news”, and calling fired FBI director James Comey “very ‘cowardly’” as he speculated that Comey’s leak to the New York Times was “totally illegal”. Meanwhile, Republicans and Democrats called for the White House to release any tapes that might exist of a private conversation between the former FBI director and the president. And there was trouble brewing in New York’s Central Park, with Delta and Bank of America pulling their sponsorship of a production of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar over a portrayal of the assassinated Roman leader that resembles the current US president.
Monday
Trump’s wife Melania and their young son Barron moved into the White House on Monday after nearly five months living apart from the president in New York so Barron could finish the school year. Abroad, there was less welcome news, as the Guardian revealed that Trump had told British PM Theresa May that he did not want to come to the UK for a planned state visit if there were likely to be large-scale protests. And as another federal appeals court upheld a decision blocking Trump’s revised travel ban, the attorneys general of Maryland and Washington sued the president for allegedly committing “unprecedented constitutional violations” by failing to appropriately disentangle his public responsibilities as president with his private interests as a businessman.
But it was Trump’s first full cabinet meeting that provided the day’s most memorable moment, as the group went round in a circle taking turns to praise and flatter the president. Chief of staff Reince Priebus was perhaps the most unctuous, telling Trump: “We thank you for the opportunity and the blessing that you’ve given us to serve your agenda.” The collective forelock-tugging was immediately mocked on Twitter and late-night TV. “Even Kim Jong-un is like, ‘Dude, have some self-respect,’” said Seth Myers.
Tuesday
Appearing before the Senate intelligence committee, attorney general Sessions rejected allegations that he took part in collusion with Moscow to influence the 2016 election as an “appalling and detestable lie”. But to grumbles from Democrats on the committee, Sessions refused to answer questions about his discussions with Trump, on the grounds that the president could, at some later date, claim executive privilege over those discussions. Meanwhile, Rod Rosenstein, the deputy attorney general who appointed special counsel Robert Mueller to head the Russia inquiry, hit back following speculation that Trump was considering firing Mueller, assuring senators he was aware of “no secret plan” to oust the special counsel.
Wednesday
Trump gave what some considered his most presidential speech to date on Wednesday when he responded calmly to the shooting of congressman Steve Scalise and others at a congressional baseball practice near Washington DC. “We may have our differences, but we do well in times like this to remember that everyone who serves in our nation’s capitol is here because, above all, they love our country,” the president said. The gunman was identified as James “Tom” Hodgkinson, a leftwing political activist with a record of domestic violence.
Elsewhere, almost 200 Democratic lawmakers sued Trump over foreign money flowing into his global business empire, in a suit similar to the one filed on Monday. And the Senate approved new sanctions against Russia, as punishment after it was found to have meddled in the 2016 presidential election, in legislation that also restricts the White House from easing sanctions without congressional approval.
The night ended with the Washington Post reporting that Trump was being investigated by Mueller for potential obstruction of justice, apparently related to the pressure Comey says the president put on him to drop the investigation into his ex-national security adviser Michael Flynn. Comey had been careful during his testimony to the Senate intelligence committee last week to make clear that Trump had not been under investigation personally while he was FBI chief. The Post claimed that changed after Comey was fired.
Thursday
Trump struck back against the Post report on Twitter on Thursday morning, claiming: “They made up a phony collusion with the Russians story, found zero proof, so now they go for obstruction of justice on the phony story. Nice.” He later repeated his claims that such investigations were a “WITCH HUNT”. Despite this, a poll found a clear majority of Americans believe Trump tried to interfere with the Russia investigation, and that just one in five support his decision to oust Comey from the FBI.
The Guardian revealed that Richard Burt, an American lobbyist for Russian interests, has confirmed that he attended two dinners hosted by Sessions during the 2016 campaign, apparently contradicting the attorney general’s sworn testimony from Tuesday. Again the night ended with news from the investigation: vice president Mike Pence has hired outside legal counsel to deal with his response to the matter, his office confirmed, while the Post reported that the scope of the inquiry had widened to include the president’s son-in-law and key adviser Jared Kushner. The paper had reported last month that Kushner had discussed setting up a secret back channel for conversations between the Trump transition team and the Kremlin with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak. Always helpful, Vladimir Putin popped up to jokingly (?) offer Comey asylum, comparing him to NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden.
Friday
In an interesting reversal of the usual pattern of Trump saying something confusing and his staff trying their best to clarify it, the president began Friday with a fairly unambiguous declaration: “I am being investigated for firing the FBI director,” he tweeted, the first time he had made such an admission, before complaining that the person doing the investigation was “the man who told me to fire the FBI director!” It was still a bit of a confusing statement; it was unclear whether he was referring to Rosenstein, who appointed Mueller and provided some of the official justification originally used by the administration to justify firing Comey, or to Mueller himself.
A source close to Trump’s legal team only muddied the waters by insisting to the Guardian that “the president was not confirming the investigation. He was referring to the Washington Post story from the other night that was based on illegal, anonymous leaks.” By that time, Trump was heading to Miami to announce a partial reversal of Barack Obama’s opening with Cuba. Trump said he was “cancelling the last administration’s completely one-sided deal with Cuba”, although in reality most of it stays in place.
