June 14, 2017 04:39 PM UTC

Trump Officially Under Investigation For Obstruction of Justice

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• by: Colorado Pols

Via the Washington Post, President Donald Trump now officially on the hot seat:

The special counsel overseeing the investigation into Russia’s role in the 2016 election is interviewing senior intelligence officials as part of a widening probe that now includes an examination of whether President Trump attempted to obstruct justice, officials said.

The move by Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller III to investigate Trump’s own conduct marks a major turning point in the nearly year-old FBI investigation, which until recently focused on Russian meddling during the presidential campaign and on whether there was any coordination between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin. Investigators have also been looking for any evidence of possible financial crimes among Trump associates, officials said.

Trump had received private assurances from former FBI Director James B. Comey starting in January that he was not personally under investigation. Officials say that changed shortly after Comey’s firing.

This can’t be called unexpected, since FBI Director James Comey’s revelations about his final meetings with President Trump before being fired very plainly told a story consistent with the crime of obstruction of justice. Comey’s firing only further confirms Trump’s intentions, which Trump was in turn quite happy to confirm to Russian diplomats shortly afterward.

In short, it would be much harder to explain after all this why Trump shouldn’t be personally under investigation than why he is.