As the federal investigation of special counsel Robert Mueller digs deeper into the business dealings of Paul Manafort, the former campaign chairman for Donald Trump is changing his legal team.
“Mr. Manafort is in the process of retaining his former counsel, Miller & Chevalier, to represent him in the office of special counsel investigation,” said Manafort’s spokesman, Jason Maloni. “As of today, WilmerHale no longer represents Mr. Manafort.”
Maloni says Manafort did not fire his counsel from WilmerHale, whose large Washington office has extensive congressional experience. Instead, Miller is a smaller firm with a specialty in international tax law. I’m told that as interest in Manafort has shifted from the congressional investigations into Russian collusion to Mueller’s special counsel probe, there had been discussion about changing his legal strategy. That shift is also commensurate with where Mueller appears to be taking his investigation: toward Manafort’s international business dealings and tax records.
This new focus would explain why the FBI raided Manafort’s home in Alexandria, Virginia, last month to retrieve documents. The New York Times reported the search warrant was for “tax documents and foreign banking records.”
On Thursday the lead private counsel for President Trump criticized the special counsel’s office for the raid. “This extraordinary invasive tool was employed for its shock value to try to intimidate Mr. Manafort and bring him to his needs [sic],” said John Dowd, Trump’s lawyer, in an email to the Wall Street Journal. Dowd called it a “gross abuse” of the legal system and said such methods were “normally found and employed in Russia not America.”
Which is fantastic.
Mark It Down—“No, I’m not dismissing anybody.” – President Donald Trump, on what he is thinking about Bob Mueller, August 10, 2017.
Actually, there were too many nuggets from Trump’s Thursday conversation with the press pool in Bedminster to choose from. Here’s a sampler, via the pool report:
On Afghanistan troop levels: “We’re getting close. We’re getting very close. It’s a very big decision for me. I took over a mess and we’re going to make it a lot less messy.”
On whether he has confidence in his national security adviser, H.R. McMaster: “Yes, I do. General McMaster? He’s our friend. He’s my friend and he’s a very talented man. I like him and I respect him.”
On the transgender ban in the military: “I have great respect for the community . . . I think I’ve had great support, or I’ve had great support from that community. I got a lot of votes. But the transgender, the military’s working on it now . . . It’s been a very difficult situation and I think I’m doing a lot of people a favor by coming out and just saying it. As you know, it’s been a very complicated issue for the military, it’s been a very confusing issue for the military, and I think I’m doing the military a great favor.”
On state of relationship with Attorney General Jeff Sessions: “It is what it is. It’s fine. He’s working hard on the border. I’m very proud of what we’ve done at the border.”
On Vladimir Putin expelling several U.S. diplomats from Russia: “I want to thank him because we’re trying to cut down our payroll and as far as I’m concerned I’m very thankful that he let go of a large number of people because now we have a smaller payroll. There’s no real reason for them to go back. I greatly appreciate the fact that we’ve been able to cut our payroll of the United States. We’re going to save a lot of money.”
There’s a lot to unpack in that final comment thanking Vladimir Putin, which appears not to be a joke. (The White House has not responded to a request to clarify.) Remember that Putin expelled the diplomats in retaliation for a tough sanctions bill that Trump begrudgingly signed after it received overwhelming support in Congress. Trump’s reaction to this affront to American diplomats is to . . . thank Putin for saving us money? According to Politico, it was a line White House aides hadn’t even heard the president use in private.
Op-ed of the Day—Ramesh Ponnuru on what we (ought) to mean when we criticize “illiberalism.”
President Trump continued to needle Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell on Thursday, blasting him on Twitter for his inability to pass Obamacare repeal and urging him to “get back to work.”
“Can you believe that Mitch McConnell, who has screamed Repeal & Replace for 7 years, couldn’t get it done,” Trump tweeted. “Must Repeal & Replace ObamaCare!”
Later in the day, Trump was asked whether he thought McConnell should step down as majority leader. Trump replied that reporters “should ask me that question” if McConnell fails to get the legislative wins on healthcare, infrastructure, and tax reform that the White House wants.
But if the president is sending some mixed signals about his views on the Republican leader. Earlier this week, Trump endorsed McConnell’s favored candidate, incumbent Luther Strange, in the upcoming Alabama special-election. On Thursday he appointed a former McConnell staffer to temporarily head the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
And let’s not forget the big elephant in the room—McConnell’s wife, Elaine Chao, is Trump’s secretary of transportation.
Song of the Day—“Out of My Head” by Fastball.
