The Strait of the Union

“He’s decided that a key witness in the Russia probe, Paul Manafort, isn’t going to ‘flip’ and sell him out, friends and aides say. He believes Robert Mueller, who heads the investigation, can be crushed, if necessary, without being fired. Sweeping tax and regulatory cuts will juice the economy and get him re-elected in 2020, he is predicting. He thinks he’s learned how to handle the dysfunction of Congress. And he’s even come to like the White House, the bad plumbing and drafty halls notwithstanding. ‘I love this place!’ he told one friend.” To many it may seem like nonstop chaos and news-induced stress. But this is why Donald Trump thinks the state of the union is great. (My prediction of the line Trump will use in the SOTU tonight: “The state of the union is great and getting greater.”)

+ All eyes will be on the State of the Union address. But all the talk in DC is about the classified GOP memo alleging surveillance abuse by the FBI and the Department of Justice. You can expect the target of the memo to be Rod Rosenstein. Why? Because he’s likely the next person in line to get fired or forced out. The Week on Trump’s slow-motion massacre at the Justice Department.

+ Paul Ryan on the highly controversial memo: “Let it all out, get it all out there. Cleanse the organization.”

+ Update on the investigation (and the efforts to thwart it). From Politico: It’s Now Likely Mueller Thinks Trump Obstructed Justice. And from The Atlantic: There’s No Way Mueller Will Indict Trump.

+ And today’s No, This Isn’t the Onion headline: Names of campaign donors to be flashed during live stream of Trump’s State of the Union speech.

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