Mr. Trump’s attack on the media for publishing leaks from the F.B.I. and domestic intelligence agencies succeeded for a few days in diverting public attention from his Russian connections. He and his White House Rasputin, Stephen K. Bannon, may also reckon that by savaging the press, they can intimidate Congress into softening its investigation into the Trump-Russia link.
But the focus has swung back on the central question: What is the president hiding? If his campaign is innocent of illicit Russian connections, why not welcome the investigation and clear the air? If, as Mr. Trump said last month, his former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, was simply “doing his job” in talking with the Russian ambassador Sergey I. Kislyak about American sanctions against Moscow, why did Mr. Flynn lie about it?
More broadly, why has Mr. Trump evaded reporters’ questions about renewed fighting in eastern Ukraine or the Russian deployment of a new missile in conflict with a 1987 arms agreement? Why, after publication of his 2005 tax returns, does he still refuse to release his most recent returns? Will they reveal something that makes him beholden to Mr. Putin and Moscow?
No matter how much the president seeks to demonize the press, these and other crucial questions will not go away because today’s journalists are just as committed as those who covered past presidents to pursue them to the end.
he is smarter than you though.
