PAUL MANAFORT/ROBERT MUELLER/RUSSIA INVESTIGATION/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Donald Trump’s behavior isn’t doing much to bolster White House assurances that he’s got nothing to worry about from Robert Mueller’s probe, after a series of potentially ominous turns in the Russia investigation. The President’s recent barrage of tweets and comments and testimony from sources close to him — coinciding with thickening intrigue around the special counsel — hint instead at deep concern on Trump’s part…The explanation for Trump’s angst over his predicament seems to lie in a flurry of startling and potentially significant developments and reports swirling around his jailed ex-campaign chairman Paul Manafort and other associates. Trump, the most powerful man in the world who crafted a self-flattering image as the ultimate strongman boss, is in a deeply vulnerable spot and appears to feel cornered and in increasing peril. He has no choice but to watch as Mueller, an adversary whose discrete public profile makes him an elusive target, grinds away, apparently getting ever closer to Trump’s inner circle and perhaps even to the President himself.”
–Stephen Collinson, “Trump appears consumed by Mueller investigation as details emerge,” CNN Politics, CNN.com, November 27, 2018 1:16 am