IMPEACHMENT/RUSSIA INVESTIGATION/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “For President Donald Trump, impeachment once seemed like a vacation compared to the never-ending, leak-filled Mueller investigation. The president for months genuinely believed he’d gain politically from an impeachment inquiry because he thought Democrats were out to get him on any issue they could, and such an inquiry would make that clear, according to two former senior administration officials. Privately, he talked to aides about the way Democrats even picked up seats in the 1998 midterms as President Bill Clinton faced impeachment hearings. Trump also latched onto the fact that removing a president required the approval of two-thirds of the Senate — so he felt assured that as long as he maintained the support of Senate Republicans, he would be fine. The president’s optimistic, even nonchalant attitude melted away this week in a series of sudden developments as he crisscrossed meetings at the United Nations in New York.”
–Nancy Cook and Daniel Lippman, “Trump’s road from wishing for impeachment to dreading it,” Politico, September 27, 2019 5:08 am