Of Puppets and Their Master

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/10/opinion/trump-indictment-face-off.html

("Let's Have a Face-Off on Trump's Indictment")

It was not that Mr. Trump was relying on the wisdom of others in choosing his path. It was that he was instructing others on the path to be taken and then waiting for them to provide the bread crumbs to get him there.

So it was with the demand for Mr. Raffensperger to "find" 11,780 votes. So it was with Mr. Chesbro, counsel who proffered legal theory that  Mr. Trump  was looking to hang his hat on. So it was with Mr. Guiliani, Ms. Powell and the other lawyers who amplified and embellished Mr. Trump's rights to contest the election results. 

These were not puppet masters but puppets. These were not men and women who led Mr. Trump astray but willingly followed him into the abyss. Mr. Trump was not fooled by their "guidance". He intentionally, and with extreme malice aforethought, directed these men and woman, his co-conspirators, to create fiction where facts would not do.

Donald Trump has always informed us he is the smartest person in the room. That only he has the answers. That only he is capable of solving the most difficult problems.

Let's take him at his word now. Donald Trump as innocent victim of bad advise? Give me a break!