David Leonhardt
Op-Ed Columnist
Throughout his business and political careers, Donald Trump has had an important advantage: He is willing to lie, frequently and shamelessly.
Most other people in public life view reality as a limitation. Trump does not. If telling falsehoods is more convenient or helpful to him than telling the truth, he tells falsehoods. It’s worked out very well for him — making his business look more successful than it was, helping him land a primetime television show and, of course, allowing him to win the most powerful political office on earth.
In his 15-plus months as president, Trump has added a second bit of shamelessness to his approach. In addition to lying, he has also been willing to obstruct justice.
Yes, there is still much about his actions that we don’t yet know. But the evidence that he obstructed justice is abundant: The attempts to end the investigation of a close ally, Michael Flynn; the clearing of rooms, to apply pressure to people in private; and the firing of James Comey as F.B.I. director (among other examples you can read here).
The list of questions that Robert Mueller wants to ask Trump, which was reported yesterday by The Times, shows that Mueller understands Trump’s ways. There are several dozen questions on the list that Mueller gave to Trump’s lawyers, and many of them are highly detailed. But they revolve around two themes: obstructing justice and lying.
The questions try to pin down Trump’s behavior and to tether him to reality in ways he rarely is. And the questions go into great detail about Trump’s efforts to impede justice.
Donald Trump has gotten away with lying and with making up his own rules for a very long time. There is no guarantee that the game is finally up. But it’s encouraging to see that Mueller at least understands Trump’s game.
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