our election was timed to embarrass TD, think again.

(hint, it was the other way around)

"Trump Decided Russia Indictments Should Come Pre-Summit, Sources Say," by Bloomberg's Chris Strohm and Jennifer Jacobs: "President Donald Trump gave the go-ahead to announce new Russian election-hacking indictments before his meeting with Vladimir Putin rather than after -- in the hopes it would strengthen his hand in the talks, according to accounts. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein went to Trump last week and offered him the choice: before or after the Putin summit on Monday in Helsinki? Trump chose before, ultimately putting the issue into the spotlight just 72 hours before the high-stakes meeting." Bloomberg

Meanwhile, expect a walk back from the walk back. Playbook ...

BY HISTORICAL STANDARDS, ROBERT MUELLER has already been so successful in delivering prominent scalps that in a different context, his work product would be unassailable, and PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP would likely be considered in immediate mortal political danger, so toxic that it would be impossible to do business with him.

A QUICK RECAP ... MUELLER HAS:
-- INDICTED the president's former campaign manager Paul Manafort -- who is currently behind bars and is soon going to trial for a host of federal charges, including tax and bank fraud.
-- SECURED the guilty pleas of former foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos, the president's first national security adviser Michael Flynn and former Trump deputy campaign manager Rick Gates. Alex van der Zwaan also pleaded guilty for lying to federal investigators. And, Richard Pinedo pleaded guilty to using stolen identities to create bank accounts.
-- CHARGED 13 RUSSIAN nationals and three Russian companies in February with interfering with the 2016 presidential election and trying to aide Trump's campaign.
-- INDICTED 12 RUSSIAN intelligence officials, unraveling a massive cyber campaign to influence the 2016 election. "Those GRU officers, I've already seen the intelligence, they were the people that conducted this cyberattack on our elections," Speaker Paul Ryan said matter-of-factly Tuesday.
SEPARATELY, prosecutors have indicted a Russian woman on charges she was acting as an agent for Putin's government, cultivating relations around Washington and working with the NRA.
MEANWHILE, THE PRESIDENT ...
-- RUTHLESSLY ATTACKED the Mueller probe, terming it a tainted operation and falsely saying it is being run by partisan Democrats. Mueller has kept quiet through a yearlong attack on his integrity.
-- WENT INTO A ROOM alone with Vladimir Putin, a man who Republicans and Democrats agree has nothing in common with U.S. interests. He had no aides or advisers and just one interpreter. He said the meeting went well and it's the news media's fault that it's being misjudged.
-- STOOD NEXT TO THE STRONGMAN LEADER OF RUSSIA and equated his word to that of his own director of national intelligence, and seemed to side with Putin because he was "extremely strong and powerful in his denial" that he meddled in the 2016 election. Trump said he had no reason to think they involved themselves in the election.
-- LATER SPOKE FROM THE WHITE HOUSE and said this: "In a key sentence in my remarks, I said the word 'would' instead of 'wouldn't.' The sentence should have been: I don't see any reason why I wouldn't -- or why it wouldn't be Russia. So just to repeat it, I said the word 'would' instead of 'wouldn't.'" This walk-back ran contrary to everything else Trump said in two television interviews and the rest of his news conference with Putin.
THE THOUGHT EXERCISE ... The volume has been turned to max for so long in our political culture, what could Mueller unveil that would shock our sensibilities, transcend partisanship, silence the GOP and satisfy the inflated expectations of Democrats?
BY THE WAY ... IF PAST IS PRECEDENT ... This whole walk-back episode will be undone when Trump doesn't get the results he wants and then walks back the walk-back. Someone on his staff seems sure to get the blame.

-- NBC'S PETER ALEXANDER (@PeterAlexander): "Who convinced Trump to walk back his Putin comments [Tuesday]? VP Pence & Secretary of State Pompeo had a private conversation with POTUS, urging him to make the clarifications, a source familiar with the conversation tells me."
From the White House loo (er, throne)...
WHAT'S ON THE PRESIDENT'S MIND THIS A.M. -- @realDonaldTrump at 5:53 a.m.: "So many people at the higher ends of intelligence loved my press conference performance in Helsinki. Putin and I discussed many important subjects at our earlier meeting. We got along well which truly bothered many haters who wanted to see a boxing match. Big results will come!"
... at 6:08 a.m.: "While the NATO meeting in Brussels was an acknowledged triumph, with billions of dollars more being put up by member countries at a faster pace, the meeting with Russia may prove to be, in the long run, an even greater success. Many positive things will come out of that meeting.."
... at 6:16 a.m.: "....Russia has agreed to help with North Korea, where relationships with us are very good and the process is moving along. There is no rush, the sanctions remain! Big benefits and exciting future for North Korea at end of process!"