Last week, beginning in the 24 blazing hours following Trump’s sacking of James Comey, the nature of Trump’s incumbency markedly shifted. It started with the free flowing lies coming from every single one of his surrogates, then continued when the Big Cheeto threw that very same crew under the bus by contradicting his own talking points the next day after the firing. Also, that same day, all of the networks, including Fox Noise, started using the word “lie”. The words “chaos”, “turmoil”, and a dozen other descriptors of the Trump WH are now a regular part of network reporting.
Trump then threatened Comey with “tapes” of their conversations, and that was the moment mainstream GOP leadership started to part ways. The Senate Intelligence committee has now asked the U.S. Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) to turn over documents related to Trump’s businesses. Why is that significant? FinCen enforces laws against MONEY LAUNDERING. Over the years before Trump’s Atlantic City casino finally closed, it was caught several times money laundering. This shift into serious investigation into his actually business dealings marks a change in emphasis from dark figures like Manafort, Stone, and Flynn to Trump. That’s not insignificant. Referring to the request, Mark Warner, the ranking member on the committee, said, “[is] our effort to try to follow the intel no matter where it leads.”
There is now talk of Trump cleaning house and “rebooting” his administration. Apparently, he’s furious with his staff for doing exactly what he’s told them to do, so the rumble is that he’s going to blow up the West Wing and start over. Even if he does that, his problems are far from being over. Money laundering? No one, including Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan can ignore that. Mix in Russian money with that story, and Trump will finally be toast.
Fingers crossed here, but there is a clear shift of support away from Trump. It can’t come too soon.