Richard Wolffe: Trump is his own biggest enemy in the impeachment inquiry

By Dilip -
A former police detective in Washington liked to tell the story of the dumbest criminal he ever met. This particular felon plotted an elaborate stick-up at a Home Depot, where he pretended to be interested in applying for a job. He duly filled out a job application form before pulling out his gun to demand all their cash. A few hours after the robbery, the police rolled up to his home to arrest him: he wrote his real address on the job form. Donald Trump behaves like he’s pulling off the heist of the century.... thanks to multiple whistleblowers, and the words that tumble endlessly out of his mouth, we now have something else: the trail of evidence that leads right to the Oval Office.

Perhaps, instead of gaslighting us all with some grand deception, Trump has been gaslighting himself into thinking he was kind of good at this media thing he calls the presidency. Either way, the big dog managed to drop a huge one on his impeachment defense on Thursday. Sure, sure, the whistleblower report was hearsay. Sure, sure, the House Democrats were fabricating everything. Sure, sure, there was no attempt to get Ukraine to interfere with an American election. It was all so perfect. Just like the call between Trump and Zelenskiy. Until Trump opened his big mouth. What exactly did he want Zelenskiy to do after their call, asked one cunning reporter on the White House south lawn on Thursday? “Well, I would think that, if they were honest about it, they’d start a major investigation into the Bidens. It’s a very simple answer,” said the very simple president.

“They should investigate the Bidens, because how does a company that’s newly formed – and all these companies, if you look at. And by the way likewise China should start an investigation into the Bidens, because what happened in China is just about as bad as what happened with, with Ukraine.”
Admitting to your crimes in front of the TV cameras is a novel way to start your defense. Extending those crimes to yet another country – this time, China – is certainly original. Seeking that help from a country you’ve dragged into an epic trade war is venturing into creative territory.

(And yes, dear Maga readers, it’s a crime.)...
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/oct/04/trump-is-his-own-biggest-enemy-in-the-impeachment-inquiry

Robert Reich: Trump is the kid with his hand in the cookiejar – and Republicans know it 
Howdy Modi: The PM may be leading the Indian diaspora into uncharted waters. By Bharat Bhushan
Richard Wolffe: The Trump-Ukraine scandal is a taste of how dirty the US elections will get

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