The tyrant in his lair. Or the boss from hell.

A Portrait of the White House and Its Culture of Dishonesty

Sarah Huckabee Sanders, according to the Mueller report.

Sarah Huckabee Sanders, then the president’s deputy press secretary, told reporters that the White House had talked to “countless members of the F.B.I.” who supported the decision to fire the director — but she later admitted to investigators that it was not true. 

Her comment, she said, was “a slip of the tongue” made “in the heat of the moment” and not founded on anything.

Speaking of Bozo's nature, this is classic mob boss, or classic Nixon (same, same).

From the same Times story.

But he [the Duce] did not give up trying to regain control of the investigation, calling Mr. Sessions at home to ask if he would “unrecuse” himself and direct the Justice Department to prosecute Mrs. Clinton. 

Mr. Sessions refused.

Abuse of power, much?

Speaking of Nixon and Watergate, already we are hearing from Trump loyalists the "they're all like that; they all do it" defense so often trotted out in defense of Nixon with his enemies list and his use of officials to harass and punish them, his abuses of power.

Differences between the two.

Nixon was purposive; he was not a pathological liar.

Nixon was not a pussy-hound.

Nixon was not a serial bankrupt.

Nixon was a knowledgeable and capable politician and even statesman.

Nixon did not want to smash the state and loved the republic; Trump would be a tyrant without a second's hesitation or thought, if he could.

He already is that in his heart; he has the soul of a tyrant. That speaks to desire.

And the mind of one. That speaks to belief.

Similarities.

Vindictive, spiteful, criminally self-serving, the mentality of a beleaguered crime boss demanding personal loyalty from staff and cabinet members functioning as henchmen and tools for his crimes.

With the investigation bearing down on him, Mr. Trump wanted to make sure Mr. Sessions remained in charge at the Justice Department, and he asked Mr. McGahn to tell the attorney general not to recuse himself because of his work on the Trump campaign. 

Mr. McGahn tried to head off a recusal by calling the attorney general three times, but Mr. Sessions announced his recusal that afternoon.

Mr. Trump was furious. Summoning Mr. McGahn to the Oval Office the next day, he said, “I don’t have a lawyer,” and added that he wished Roy Cohn, the famed bare-knuckled attorney who once worked for him in New York, was still his lawyer. 

Mr. Trump said that Robert F. Kennedy protected John F. Kennedy, and Eric H. Holder Jr. protected Barack Obama.

“You’re telling me that Bobby and Jack didn’t talk about investigations?” he demanded. 

“Or Obama didn’t tell Eric Holder who to investigate?”

Mr. Trump screamed at Mr. McGahn about how weak Mr. Sessions was, and Stephen K. Bannon, then the president’s chief strategist, thought he was as mad as he had ever seen him.

. . . .

In January 2018, The Times reported about the president’s June 2017 effort to have Mr. Mueller fired. 

A livid Mr. Trump pressed Mr. McGahn to publicly rebut the story, but he would not because the article accurately reported the president’s desires.

Mr. Trump insisted that Mr. McGahn deny it. 

“If he doesn’t write a letter, then maybe I’ll have to get rid of him,” the president said, or something to that effect.