CNN analyst explains Mueller and prosecutors are 'playing 3D chess' with Trump -- but supporters think he's the real genius

A Washington Post writer explained during a CNN panel Wednesday how complicated -- and synchronized -- the investigations into Donald Trump and his aides have gotten.

CNN's Gloria Borger noted in the panel responding to former Trump "fixer" Michael Cohen's sentencing by noting that "everyone else but the president of the United States" recognizes that Trump is in deep trouble.

"Don't forget, they raided [Cohen's] offices," she said, adding that prosecutors now "have everything they need and more."

Former CIA official Phil Mudd noted that if one were to "play the scales of justice," they'd have trouble figuring out who's more significant in the Cohen sentencing -- the attorney himself or AMI, the National Enquirer parent company, that struck a plea deal.

Both companies "know about personal payments," Mudd added, but it's AMI that got the immunity deal.

Post assistant editor David Swerdlick then pointed out that the stunning sentencing shows just how complicated a game those investigating Trump are playing.

"The president and his supporters like to talk about the president being able to play three-dimensional chess," Swerdlick said. "It is the prosecutors in the Southern District of New York and the special counsel investigation that are playing three-dimensional chess."

He then noted that AMI chairman and CEO David Pecker's immunity deal shows that he likely corroborated much of what Cohen told prosecutors.

"If that's true, at a minimum, right, the president can still say it wasn't a campaign finance violation but he can't say he didn't lie to the American people about payments to his alleged mistresses," Swerdlick concluded.

Watch below: