President Donald Trump appears to be increasingly worried about special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election.

Though the president has previously hinted at pardoning Paul Manafort and other former employees who have pleaded guilty and are cooperating with Mueller’s probe, Trump used Twitter on Monday to offer his thoughts on an ex-colleague who has flipped on him — his one-time personal attorney and self-styled “fixer” Michael Cohen.

“Michael Cohen asks judge for no Prison Time.” You mean he can do all of the TERRIBLE, unrelated to Trump, things having to do with fraud, big loans, Taxis, etc., and not serve a long prison term? He makes up stories to get a GREAT & ALREADY reduced deal for himself, and get….. — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 3, 2018

….his wife and father-in-law (who has the money?) off Scott Free. He lied for this outcome and should, in my opinion, serve a full and complete sentence. — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 3, 2018

Then, in one of those examples that makes you wonder if any of Trump’s lawyers have offered to explain what “obstruction of justice” is, the president of the United States praised another former employee from his 2016 presidential campaign for reportedly not flipping on him…yet.

“I will never testify against Trump.” This statement was recently made by Roger Stone, essentially stating that he will not be forced by a rogue and out of control prosecutor to make up lies and stories about “President Trump.” Nice to know that some people still have “guts!” — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 3, 2018

Trump closed out his latest round “modern day presidential” performance art tweets by hinting he might have damaging information about Mueller, the former FBI director under Republican and Democratic presidents who was awarded a Purple Heart for his service with the U.S. Marine Corps in Vietnam.

Bob Mueller (who is a much different man than people think) and his out of control band of Angry Democrats, don’t want the truth, they only want lies. The truth is very bad for their mission! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 3, 2018

Renato Mariotti, a former U.S. Attorney’s Office prosecutor who mounted an unsuccessful Democratic bid for Illinois’ attorney general earlier this year, noted the president’s Monday Twitter activity “sounds like something the criminals I used to prosecute would say.”

I’ve never heard a public official speak this way before Trump. This sounds like something the criminals I used to prosecute would say. https://t.co/WVqoz2taVh — Renato Mariotti (@renato_mariotti) December 3, 2018

He wasn’t alone in this assessment.

@jdawsey1 his tweets today read like a transcript of Michael Corleone and Tom Hagen talking with Frank Pentangeli. — Jesse Ferguson (@JesseFFerguson) December 3, 2018

There is, perhaps, good reason for Trump to ramp up such talk on Twitter. All signs point in the direction of Mueller’s probe nearing a conclusion after an 18-month investigation that has racked up over 100 criminal charges against dozens of people, including guilty pleas from Trump’s former national security adviser, former campaign chair, former attorney, and multiple former campaign advisers.


Cohen’s guilty plea and revelations that accompanied it last Thursday — that the president and his family pursued a Trump Tower real estate deal in Russia through the summer of the 2016 presidential race — was referred to as the potential “beginning of the end of the Trump presidency” by Neal Katyal, President Barack Obama’s former acting Solicitor General.

In addition to signing a secret waiver that would prevent Solicitor General Noel Francisco from having to recuse himself from oversight of the Russia investigation if Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein is fired, the president fired Attorney General Jeff Sessions on the day after Democrats’ sweeping victories in last month’s midterm elections in what was widely viewed as an attempt to further insulate himself from Mueller’s investigation.

Session’s replacement, acting attorney general Matthew Whitaker, has been a frequent critic of Mueller’s probe.

Donald Trump Jr., the president’s oldest and largest son who likely lied to Congress per Cohen’s latest plea deal, is reportedly telling friends he is very worried about being indicted.


Mueller has cited tweets in court filings, prompting speculation that the special counsel has been keeping a close eye on Trump’s Twitter account.