One Trump syncophant after another has started to accept the fact their false idol is likely headed for indictment and possibly prison. Most recent among them Alan Dershowitz, who told Axios the Department of Justice has enough evidence to indict his former client, but doubts they will. You have to give Dershowitz credit. He is a master of mixed messages.

The first half of his missive seems directed at the target of DOJ’s investigation into illegally obtained and mishandled documents. “Buddy, you really stepped in it this time. No amount of money can convince any doctor to help you get out of this by claiming you deserve a pass due to brain spurs.” The second phrase is less clear. Is he taunting Merrick Garland, insinuating he does not have the fortitude to do what the law commands? Or is he trying to stiffen the attorney general’s desire to take down the white whale, planting seeds for another massive payday as a member of Trump’s legal nightmare team (even though Trump payday is an oxymoron)?

However, the only person that matters is TFG, himself. Mopey Dick seems as determined as ever to use this occasion as one more grift opportunity, begging small donors to send him their lunch money. We know the Republican National Committee is not happy. Those same nickels and dimes used to fill their campaign chest until Trump came on the scene. Televangelists must feel the same way. There is only so much change to go around. They may think Trump is a partner in the culture wars, but he is really the competition.

All this assumes Garland is facing a binary decision. You either prosecute Trump or you do not. There is a third choice. Forget the investigation. Forget locking him up which might only make him a martyr to MAGA-world. Trump knows better than anyone what the National Archives and the FBI found. He must also have a pretty good idea what is under all that black ink in the just released affidavit. Switch chairs at the table. Let Garland sit in The Godfather’s place. Then make Trump an offer he cannot refuse.

There is probably some room to negotiate, but not much. At a minimum, the agreement must include the following.

• A public admission of guilt. (Imagine his salivating at those TV ratings.)
• Prohibition from seeking or holding any future public office.
• Forfeiture of all the post-presidential perks including pension and allowances as well as secret service protection and public support for a presidential library.

This would relieve Trump of further liability for past criminal charges (not civil cases such as the one before the NY attorney general or E. Jean Carroll’s defamation suit). Enforcement would be based on a conditional commutation of an agreed term of incarceration, perhaps 20 years. Should he violate any of the above terms, he would have to surrender to authorities for immediate imprisonment.

Would he take this deal? I doubt it, but he should be given the opportunity. Since release of the affidavit last Friday, only Trump and a couple of his most delusional supporters now think the court approved Mar-a-Lago search warrant was (pun intended) unwarranted. The timeline indicates Trump was given more than ample opportunity to do the right thing before the search was requested or executed. That seems to have made a difference with some of Trump’s defenders and in the court of public opinion.

Giving him a chance to come clean before throwing the book at him in court, if and when that time comes, could make a difference whether the majority of Americans view DOJ actions as appropriate prosecution or political persecution.

Why CNN Still Needs Brian Stelter

Welcome to Sunday morning without CNN’s “Reliable Sources” and host Brian Stelter. Within days of the announcement of his termination, CNN demonstrated why this was a mistake. Stelter would not only focus on the big issues, but point out the smaller ones which signal the systemic failure by most media, particularly the dependence on euphemisms, e.g. inaccuracy versus lie.

Consider the following example. After release of the DOJ affidavit on Friday, a CNN anchor reported they had just received the first response from a Trump supporter who continued calling the search a political witchhunt. The statement came from Taylor Budowich, director of communications for Trump’s Save America PAC. Calling one of Trump’s paid employees a supporter is like calling a bank robber a customer. And the real story should have been this initial defense was coming, not from the usual suspects Marjorie Taylor Greene, Jim Jordan and Matt Gaetz, but from a hired gun.

Brian, we miss you already.

For what it’s worth.
Dr. ESP