I was thinking about that in comparison with the impeachment probe, how different it’s going to be, how this time it won’t just be Trump lashing out against a silent prosecutor. He’ll be lashing out against daily hearings with their own advocates, discussing the findings daily, while the media follows the process, daily.
In hindsight, Trump couldn’t have been luckier with the special counsel if he had chosen him himself. Stone faced, rigid beyond belief, silent in the face of endless attacks, all too plodding, all too slow . . . Mueller never spoke to America, so America basically heard Trump and his supporters yell and scream and denounce the proceedings and the media for the entire time it was being conducted. Trump had the stage all too himself for nearly two years.
Of course, once it finally came out, its effects would be all but muted and land with a thud. And to make double sure of that, Barr summarized it mendaciously; Mueller finally appeared in public in an obviously weakened state; and Trump breathed a great sigh of relief. He phoned Zelensky the next day.
He won the battle with Mueller, largely because the country heard only his voice, shouting over the void. He won because Mueller never even tried to fight back.
Unless the Dems really botch this thing, and go silent and follow the concern trolls on the right, Trump is going to have a real battle on his hands for once.