Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images
In the tradition of the Clintonometer and the Trump Apocalypse Watch, the Impeach-O-Meter is a wildly subjective and speculative daily estimate of the likelihood that Donald Trump leaves office before his term ends, whether by being impeached (and convicted) or by resigning under threat of same.
The noose got a little bit tighter today, as unnamed (of course!) intelligence sources leaked to the New York Times that the U.S. intercepted conversations last summer in which Russian officials discussed trying to influence Trump advisers Paul Manafort and Michael Flynn. “Some Russians boasted about how well they knew Mr. Flynn,” the Times writes. “Others discussed leveraging their ties to Viktor F. Yanukovych, the deposed president of Ukraine living in exile in Russia, who at one time had worked closely with Mr. Manafort.”
So, we know that Trump campaign advisers had financial ties to figures in Russia. We know Russia tried to sabotage Hillary Clinton’s campaign. And now we know—but only sort of, since we’re relying on anonymous leaks by individuals of unknown motivation here—that the Russians who sabotaged the Clinton campaign wanted to exert influence on the Trump advisers with ties to Russia. But did they actually do it? Was there collusion? We don’t know. We just don’t know!
Still, enough drips will eventually fill the bucket, as old spies (probably) say. Today we’ll raise our likelihood juuuust a little.
Photo illustration by Natalie Matthews-Ramo. Photos by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images, Win McNamee/Getty Images, Chris Kleponis-Pool/Getty Images, Drew Angerer/Getty Images, and Peter Parks-Pool/Getty Images.
