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Donald Trump is driving the news cycle using Twitter dot com again, tweeting to call an end to the Russia probe—a thought so inconceivable that it reportedly made a Republican senator pull the powerful #resistance move of gasping out loud —and comparing Paul Manafort to that mobster we all know and love, Al Capone.




After quoting social outcast Alan Dershowitz, Trump tweeted:


This appears to be the first time that Trump has formally—if you deem anything said on Twitter to be “formal”—called on Attorney General Jeff Sessions to end the probe that’s been a thorn in his side (and mine) for the entirety of his presidency.

When she was read Trump’s tweet in an interview with Bloomberg, Republican Senator Susan Collins, of Maine, actually gasped:

“Jeez,” gasped Republican Senator Susan Collins of Maine as she was read the president’s tweet in an interview. “This is unbelievable.” “Those comments are totally inappropriate,” she added. “The president should not be talking about the investigation at all.”

Jeez indeed!

Then, beautifully, just 10 minutes later, the president tweeted about his former campaign chair Paul Manafort, who’s entering the second day of his trial on bank and tax fraud charges. Trump twice used the word “hoax,” suggesting that (allegedly) failing to pay taxes on millions of dollars of lobbying income is basically like the surgeon’s photo of the Loch Ness Monster .



Wait, the “lovely” Lisa Page???


There are a number of interesting things going on in that last one. (Although it was, unfortunately, not actually his last tweet ever; he’s since tweeted and deleted a message about a “smocking gun” and Hillary Clinton.) First of all: Why in God’s name would you compare Manafort, a man you’re feigning sympathy for, to a “legendary mob boss”? Trump apparently thought the prosecution opening up the trial by talking about Manafort spending $15,000 on a custom coat made out of ostrich didn’t make the parallels quite obvious enough.

Next: It’s pretty messed up that people are routinely held for long periods of time in solitary confinement, or any jail, for months or even years without being convicted of a crime, right Donald? If only something could be done. Instead, he’ll keep tweeting about Collusion, a word that makes me physically recoil from how often he says it, which he definitely didn’t participate in but could have if he’d wanted to.