Firing of 'high-profile' prosecutor shows Trump 'is not thinking clearly': analysis

Salon Senior writer Amanda Marcotte says it’s easy to see why Donald Trump’s lawyers did not want him taking the stand in any of his criminal or civil trials.

“The former reality TV host’s increasingly frantic efforts to talk his way out of the ballooning outrage over his flagrant cover-up of the Jeffrey Epstein case are backfiring,” said Marcotte, “making him look like nothing more than a man who has a whole lot to hide.”

Marcotte said the kind of “erratic behavior” that would have undermined him on the stand includes his many attempts to distract his rebellious MAGA base. This includes a recent promise to release “Grand Jury Testimony” related to the Epstein case just in time for the publication of a Wall Street Journal report alleging Trump had sent Epstein a sexually graphic birthday card. Trump then admitted he had tried to block the article and announced he would sue the newspaper, its parent company and owner Rupert Murdoch.

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Another example of incriminating behavior she said would be his recent move to fire Maurene Comey, "who has worked on many high-profile cases" and who would have prosecuted Epstein. She's also lobbied to withhold Epstein documents to protect his victims.

“One would think that Trump would keep someone on board whose reasons for holding back the Epstein files are unassailable,” said Marcotte. “… Instead, the president is listening to people like his [MAGA influencer] … Laura Loomer, a conspiracy theorist who has been pushing to use Comey as a scapegoat to blame for withholding the Epstein files.”

“It’s another sign that, in his panic, Trump is not thinking clearly,” says Marcotte.

But Trump also suffers from shortsightedness and a “narcissist’s compulsion to say whatever he needs to in the moment to get approval,” she added.

“Older interviews, where he promises to release the files, show both tendencies on full display,” Marcotte said. “It’s clear that Trump didn’t want to be talking about Epstein, but he will always say whatever he feels will sell well. So, he promised to release the files, no doubt believing that he could break that promise, like he breaks every promise.”

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“Trump lies to his supporters constantly, and they never seem to mind,” she said, but “this is truly the first time I’ve seen many of them … express genuine confusion over why their beloved leader has obviously lied to them.”

Marcotte said it seems like his supporters have fully deluded themselves into thinking Trump can’t be in the Epstein files — “so much so that Trump can’t seem to get them to understand what’s scaring him, even with signaling so obvious it reads as a near-confession to everyone outside the MAGA cult."

“They won’t lay off calls for him to release the files unless he offers a reason that makes sense to them. And he can’t tell them why he needs them to shut up, at least not without spelling out what he’s worried about is in there,” Marcotte said.

Read the full Salon report at this link.