Mueller has given Trump a gift: Kennedy

Special counsel Robert Muelller has given the president a gift: he has informed DT’s attorneys that POTUS is not a target of the investigation -- a designation that carries stripes of criminality. Instead, the president is the *subject* because the whole damn thing is supposed to be about *his* campaign where he was elected *president.*

Depending on who you ask, the subject distinction means either the president is guaranteed impeachment, or he is free and clear and will win re-election in a Reagan-esque landslide in two years.

But, and there's always a big but, the investigation is not complete and there is a legal chasm between camps who disagree as to whether 45 should sit for an interview with muted Mueller.

Those in favor note the low probability anything serious comes out of a sit-down, while the nays say the president's chatty yarn-spinning could easily move him from the subject to the target column and that could spell trouble in Mueller's report that might lead to the "I" word.

He's not just any common subject. For better or worse he's a politician and is perpetually running for re-election. He also feels he's innocent and wants to formally proclaim his purity in front of the button men who can make his life hell. If he spills the beans in an unforced enchilada and becomes a target and crafts himself an impeachable noose, and if Democrats take the House and take the bait and launch formal removal proceedings, it would actually be the best thing for him.

He won't get convicted in the Senate, the country doesn't have the appetite for it, and being the target and the victim of a successful witch hunt make him a re-electable folk hero. In other words, there is no downside to a sit-down. He either clears his name or secures his legacy as a bird flying renegade who went down swinging and wins both ways.