Stephen Colbert isn't buying Trump's new Nixonian argument that presidents can't obstruct justice


Stephen Colbert celebrated an early Christmas on Monday's Late Show, thanks to Special Counsel Robert Muller's gift last Friday of a plea deal for President Trump's former national security adviser Michael Flynn. "He is singing like a canary — well, actually more like an angry shaved eagle," Colbert said. "Yes, Flynn is turning on his old friends. It's like the old saying goes, 'Snitches get significant time off their federal prison sentence.'" The Trump official who should probably be the most worried is Jared Kushner, who reportedly ordered Flynn to call Russian officials.
Worse for Trump, Flynn might have been wearing a wire. And Trump compounded his troubles by tweeting what appears to be an admission of obstruction of justice. Nobody really believes the story that Trump lawyer John Dowd "wrote a tweet in the voice of his client, without the client's permission or knowledge, and said tweet indicts the client for obstruction of justice," Colbert said. Dowd's counterargument is that Trump can't technically commit obstruction of justice. "Or, as Nixon famously said: 'When the president does it, it's not illegal. ... Also, if you're using the same defense as me, you're totally screwed because I was a crook.'"
Colbert ended with a fake TV ad for lawyers who one-up Dowd's legal "malpractice" and apparent willingness to take the fall for a client.
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Trump also tweeted his endorsement for Alabama GOP Senate candidate Roy Moore on Monday, and criticized Democrat Doug Jones as "a Pelosi/Schumer puppet." Moore, of course, has been credibly accused of dating and fondling teenage girls as young as 14. "Nobody wants a puppet in the Senate," Colbert said. "But if Moore gets elected, they will need a few more of those 'show me where they touched you' dolls." He ended with some of the juicer tales from former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski's new book. Watch below. Peter Weber
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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
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