Robert Mueller may have a Deep Throat witness on Russia

Watching the imbroglio unfold about the new Michael Wolff book, “Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House,” the most interesting question is whether Robert Mueller and his special counsel team have been working behind the scenes with a Deep Throat-like witness from within Trump circles who has provided evidence to their investigation about Russia.

Give Michael Wolff credit or blame for one thing: He sure bamboozled President Trump when he led him to believe his book would be friendly. 

{mosads}Imagine if Wolff had told Trump, before gaining months of access to the inner workings of the White House, that he planned to write a book quoting the president’s key friend and advisor accusing Trump’s son-in-law and son of treason.

Imagine Wolff telling Trump that a list of the president’s closest advisors will speak of him in terms more appropriate for an emotional child than a commander in chief.  

Stephen Bannon reportedly told Wolff that once the meeting regarding dirt on Clinton from Russian sources was suggested, those who knew of the meeting should have immediately informed the FBI.

Bannon is absolutely right about this. When there was a Russian operation to support Trump over Clinton using material surreptitiously obtained by Russia, anyone on Team Trump who knew about this should have reported it to the FBI immediately.

The big question today is whether anyone in Trump circles who knew about this covert Russian operation did, in fact, go to the FBI and expose it. If anyone did, it would have been an act of high patriotism, and that person would be a Deep Throat witness for the FBI and Mueller.

I do not subscribe here to the use of the word “treason.” But if Bannon knew about acts he considered treasonous, it is fair to ask whether he went to the FBI himself the minute he learned about them. It is crucial to ask Bannon and Wolff whether the Deep Throat question was discussed in preparation of the book.

Similarly, of the various people in Trump circles who learned of the Russian operation to destroy Clinton and elect Trump, did any of them go to the FBI with that information?

It is certainly possible that one or more of them did, in which case, that person or persons would be our modern Deep Throat, providing the FBI and Mueller with bombshell information at a much earlier stage in the investigation than is currently known.

Because I am not a fan of the professional technique used by Wolff to ingratiate himself to Trump to gain insider access for his book, I would recommend great caution before drawing conclusions about the allegations within its pages. 

Let’s give some time for those he named to publicly react to the manner in which they are quoted before assessing the accuracy of the material presented.

We do know, from multiple sources reported by multiple new organizations, that there are a number of individuals close to Trump who have grave misgivings about important aspects of the Trump presidency. The Wolff book does perform one service of bringing this subject to the center of national discussion.

Is there a Deep Throat source hovering in the background of the investigation that we will learn about later? As a patriotic American, I sure hope so.  

One of the great truths about politics and media is that some things are more important than others. One of the most important matters in modern American and world history is the concerted attack against democracy and democratic institutions in the United States and Europe by Russian operators.

This is why I harshly criticized Trump when he compared the CIA to Nazi Germany, strongly criticized President Obama for not responding strongly enough when he was president, and today, I strongly criticize those who launch aggressive attacks against Mueller, the FBI and the integrity of the Department of Justice.

Whether there is a Deep Throat from inside Trump circles is one of the most intriguing and consequential questions in the great drama that is now unfolding.

Brent Budowsky was an aide to former Sen. Lloyd Bentsen (D-Texas) and former Rep. Bill Alexander (D-Ark.), who was chief deputy majority whip of the U.S. House of Representatives. He holds an LLM in international financial law from the London School of Economics.