Democrats in the House of Representative launched an impeachment inquiry of Trump after the news broke that he personally solicited a political favor from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in exchange for military aid, but I think we all knew that similar requests of other world leaders would be uncovered once a few rocks were kicked over.
Trump reportedly contacted Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and asked him to ensure that his government cooperated with his top henchman, Attorney General William Barr, in an investigation of the Mueller investigation.
And this is not something that happened a long time ago. This is the reason Barr was out of the country just last week.
From the Associated Press:
Trump was requesting help for U.S. Attorney John Durham’s investigation into the origins of special counsel Mueller’s probe into Russian interference in the 2016 election. The investigation outraged Trump, who cast it as a politically motivated “witch hunt.”
Durham’s investigation has been cheered by Trump allies, who believe the original FBI probe into Russia’s election interference was driven by Democrats.
Barr traveled to Italy last week with Durham, where the two met with government officials as part of the investigation, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press. As part of his investigation, Durham is examining what led the U.S. to open a counterintelligence investigation on the Trump campaign and the roles various countries played in that probe. The attorney general’s presence on the trip exemplifies how much of an active role the nation’s chief law enforcement officer is taking in overseeing the investigation.
In other words, Barr's presence exemplifies how much he is acting as Trump's personal attorney.
Trump asked Morrison for a political favor because this is not a matter of national security as the investigation itself is not a matter of national security. This is a political-motivated attempt to rewrite the record of what the Mueller investigation uncovered.
Trump truly is one of the most petty men in the universe because the Mueller investigation did not necessarily conclude very much about Trump himself, just that his campaign was up its neck in shady Russians and their useful idiots. Trump views the investigation of his campaign as an affront to his own perceived greatness even if it did not specifically assign blame to him.
It's ironic that the Mueller investigation did not conclude that Trump broke any laws (nor did it clear him) but Trump may break a few laws in pursuit of righting the wrongs he feels were done to him.
It's all about him. Whatever happens to America's standing in the world and our so-called justice system is just collateral damage in Trump's slim, petty worldview in which he is the only person that exists or matters.