It was Robert Mueller’s best day so far, which meant it was Donald Trump’s worst. Minutes before Mr Trump’s former campaign manager was convicted on multiple counts of fraud, the president’s former personal lawyer said he had been directed by Mr Trump to break federal law to cover up affairs with a former porn star and a model. Both men were convicted on eight counts. It provided the clearest signal yet that Mr Mueller’s investigation is closing in on Mr Trump.
Next month, Paul Manafort, who was Mr Trump’s campaign chairman, and who personifies the Washington swamp his former boss vowed to drain, faces a separate criminal trial for conspiracy against the US. He already faces a lengthy sentence. The prosecution has recommended a sentence of up to 63 months for Michael Cohen, Mr Trump’s long-time fixer. Yet Mr Mueller has barely scratched the surface. The drama will now intensify. There are three immediate risks to Mr Mueller.
The first is that Mr Trump could sack him. He has already twice tried to do so before. This time, aides may find it impossible to restrain the president. Before the latest verdicts, Mr Trump had already taken to calling Mr Mueller a “disgraced and discredited” man and alleging that the former FBI chief — and registered Republican — is in cahoots with Hillary Clinton’s people. Mr Trump has also called the prosecutors on Mr Mueller’s team “thugs” and “angry Democrats”. He has also compared the special counsel’s work to the red scare investigations spearheaded by Senator Joe McCarthy in the 1950s for whom Mr Trump’s former lawyer, the late Roy Cohn, was a legal aide.