On Tuesday, writing for The Washington Post, columnist David Von Drehle excoriated President Donald Trump for "obsessing" over the federal case of former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn.
"President Trump’s supporters are tired of the attention given to the novel coronavirus pandemic. I hear this from my email inbox and see it on the websites catering to those voices," wrote Von Drehle. "I find this odd, given that the president frequently assures us that his leadership during this public health crisis has been exemplary, 10 out of 10, the best in the world. And don’t take his word for it; Vice President Pence and deputy president Jared Kushner agree."
"What Team Trump wants America to talk about is the fate of Michael Flynn, Trump’s original national security adviser," wrote Von Drehle. "U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan has been asked by the Justice Department to dismiss the charges against Flynn, which the same Justice Department pressed successfully to a guilty plea. The judge, who is mulling over this unusual twist, put a hold on the request Tuesday at least temporarily to allow time for outside parties to weigh in."
"Over to you, Judge Sullivan," wrote Von Drehle. "Except for one additional note: Long before Flynn was charged with lying to the FBI, he was fired by Trump for bald-face lying about the exact same matter to the vice president. Yes, the Trump who romanced and dallied with Comey dropped Flynn like a hot rock. Whatever supposedly benign topics Flynn discussed with the Russians, it did not take a corrupt FBI to entangle him. Flynn wouldn’t even come clean to the president’s panting poodle, Pence."
"But now Trump has pronounced Flynn a hero for all that lying," wrote Von Drehle. "Ask yourself: In the midst of a pandemic that has killed more than 80,000 Americans and decimated the world economy, why is the president of the United States suddenly obsessed with this former aide who — if Flynn is truly a hero — Trump himself had forsaken with scarcely a care? Flynn’s supposedly gigantic integrity mattered little to Trump in early 2017 when the president tossed him overboard. Now it’s Priority One?"
"The president would prefer to discuss anything other than the subject most important to the American people," concluded Von Drehle. "This sad truth gives all the more reason for the rest of us to continue to focus on the pandemic. Saving lives while saving the economy is among the most complex challenges we’ve faced, and we’re facing it without help from the top."
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