The Cheeto Mussolini hasn’t been subtle about using his pardon power to signal to potential witnesses against him that he’s got their back. His choices for who will receive his beneficence reads like a laundry list of potential charges/plea bargain fodder against witnesses in his case: Campaign finance violations, lying to the FBI, money laundering, influence peddling, defiance of federal courts. Talk of pardoning Martha Stewart was direct troll against Comey, who put her away for lying to Federal investigators.

I feel kind of silly for not considering that Mueller too can send a message.

This afternoon Mueller’s team filed papers accusing campaign manager Paul Manafort of witness tampering.

Witness tampering. I love it. Message received five by five.

Your move, Rudy.