# Post x_1039687158456639489

- Post ID: `x_1039687158456639489`
- Platform: X (Twitter)
- Posted: 2018-09-12T01:28:29.000Z (UTC)
- Deleted: no
- Repost: no
- Canonical URL: https://trump.fm/post/x_1039687158456639489
- Analysis page: https://trump.fm/post/x_1039687158456639489/analysis
- Audio narration: https://static.trump.fm/audio/x_1039687158456639489.mp3 (a synthesized voice reading the post text, not a recording)

## Post text

> ....giving the information, and causing the appointment of a Special C without having the courage of his own convictions.....”  Alan Dershowitz   @TuckerCarlson   In other words, the whole thing was illegally and very unfairly set up?

## Engagement

- Likes: 61,918
- Reposts: 15,904
- Replies: 0
- Views: unknown
- Metrics collected: 2026-01-31T23:43:13.397Z (UTC)

# Analysis

_Machine-generated by trump.fm on 2026-03-23T03:38:22.048Z (UTC): a model's reading of this post, not his words. Its psychological terms describe the language, not a clinical assessment of him._

## Summary

This post concludes a two-part thread and exemplifies Trump's most structurally sophisticated disinformation unit: proxy amplification via borrowed authority. Dershowitz's legal credibility flows through Tucker Carlson's platform and is re-amplified with a leading question — "In other words, the whole thing was illegally and very unfairly set up?" — that asserts conspiracy while performing epistemic inquiry. Authorship is high-confidence authentic (9:28 PM EDT; stream-of-consciousness thread continuation; characteristic rhetorical fingerprints).

The psychological substrate is a vulnerable narcissistic state triggered by compound injury: Woodward's *Fear* released that same day exposing White House dysfunction, with the Mueller investigation as a persistent existential threat. Rather than the grandiose, expansive rage of rally-mode posts, this post operates in persecution-and-vindication mode: DARVO repositions Comey as the criminal actor, Trump as wronged sovereign. Defense mechanisms are layered — pathological denial of the investigation's legitimacy, immature projection of procedural manipulation onto Comey, neurotic rationalization via Dershowitz.

The claim that the Special Counsel was "illegally" appointed is factually false; no court has found the appointment unlawful. The claim functions as an epistemic loyalty test — followers who accept the "illegal setup" frame are absorbed into an alternative legal reality that pre-emptively delegitimizes any adverse findings. No danger indicators; this is institutional attack, not eliminationist or incitement rhetoric. Consistent with 2018 baseline; no cognitive deviation flagged.

# Psychological Analysis: x_1039687158456639489 (2018-09-12)

## Overview

This post is the concluding segment of a two-part thread (the prior post ends with "...He snuck the information to a law professor who collaborated with him in........"), completing a quote attributed to Alan Dershowitz as amplified via Tucker Carlson's platform, then appending Trump's own editorial summary: *"In other words, the whole thing was illegally and very unfairly set up?"* The post functions as a hybrid: outsourced legal attack via friendly proxy, followed by Trump's own framing question—a structurally efficient propaganda unit.

---

## Authorship Attribution

**UTC 01:28:29 on September 12 = 21:28 EDT on September 11.** Trump was almost certainly at the White House on this date. 9:28 PM local time falls squarely within his documented late-evening Twitter window. The stylistic fingerprints are unambiguous:

- Thread continuation from a prior post in the same style
- Deployment of a media-friendly quote (Dershowitz via Tucker Carlson) as a legal shield
- Signature rhetorical move: attribute the attack to an authority, then editorialize with a leading question that asserts what it pretends to ask
- "Special C" is a character-limit truncation artifact, not a cognitive error—consistent with organic composition rather than aide-drafted copy
- Emotional urgency and informal punctuation (ellipses, question-as-assertion)

**Confidence: High.** This is authentic Trump.

---

## Level 1: Dispositional Traits (Big Five)

| Trait | Observed Level | Evidence |
|-------|---------------|----------|
| Extraversion | High | Assertive, broadcasting to audience, tag of @TuckerCarlson to amplify reach |
| Agreeableness | Very Low | Adversarial framing, zero acknowledgment of opposing perspective |
| Conscientiousness | Low-Moderate | Reactive, impulsive thread; no structured argument |
| Neuroticism (Angry Hostility) | Elevated | Underlying paranoia about the investigation; "illegally and very unfairly" language |
| Openness | Low | Rigid, closed epistemic frame—one permissible interpretation of events |

---

## Level 2: Characteristic Adaptations

**Agency motives dominate.** The post is driven by power-preservation and status-defense. The Woodward book (*Fear*) had released that same day—a major public humiliation and exposure event. Kavanaugh hearings had just concluded their opening days. The Mueller investigation remained an existential threat. This post fires on all three fronts via the proxy of Comey's alleged misconduct.

**Schema revealed:** The world contains enemies who operate through procedural corruption (leaking memos, manipulating professors) to undermine those who are actually right. The self is positioned as target of an *illegitimate* process—not a legitimate legal inquiry.

---

## Level 3: Narrative Identity

**Protagonist role:** Wronged sovereign—persecuted by a rigged process initiated by a cowardly bureaucrat (Comey).

**Narrative sequence:** Contamination. A functioning administration was poisoned by Comey's leak → which manufactured a Special Counsel → which produced a years-long persecution. Good was contaminated by procedural treachery.

**Identity claims (implicit):**
- "I am the victim of an illegal setup"
- "I have allies (Dershowitz, Carlson) who see the truth"
- "This would not exist if the process were legitimate"

**Contrasting other:** Comey—characterized (via Dershowitz) as lacking "the courage of his own convictions," a coward who manipulated the system rather than acting directly.

**Redemption gesture:** The leading question at the end functions as a nascent redemption arc signal—if the whole thing is "set up," then there is nothing to answer for, and eventual vindication is implied.

---

## Level 4: Clinical Indicators

### Malignant Narcissism Assessment

**A. Narcissistic Features:**
- Uses two respected/credentialed proxies (Harvard Law professor Dershowitz, major cable host Carlson) to supply validation—classic admiration-harvesting via borrowed authority
- Leading question performs certainty while maintaining surface deniability
- Entitlement framing: the investigation is "unfair" because the target is special

**B. Antisocial Features:**
- Persistent delegitimization of law enforcement apparatus
- No acknowledgment that the Special Counsel was appointed through established DOJ process

**C. Paranoid Features (salient):**
- "The whole thing was illegally and very unfairly set up"—conspiratorial interpretation of a documented legal process
- Preoccupation with procedural illegitimacy as a way to discredit adverse findings in advance

**D. Ego-Syntonic Sadism:** Minimal in this post; the sadistic register is absent—this is defensive rather than aggressive-humiliating.

---

### Narcissistic Dynamics

**Trigger:** Compound narcissistic injury. Woodward's *Fear* released that day, detailing White House chaos and aides' concerns about Trump's fitness. The Mueller investigation remained active. Both constitute exposure + threat to grandiose self-image.

**State:** **Vulnerable narcissistic state.** This post lacks the expansive grandiosity of rally-mode Trump. Instead it is defensive, persecution-focused, and outsources its attack through proxies rather than direct assertion.

**Rage:** Present but **sublimated**. The word "illegally" carries the rage without explicit emotional display. The leading question format is a controlled-rage construction—fury routed through rhetorical indirection.

**Proportionality:** Low—the response to a procedurally legitimate investigation is to declare it constitutionally invalid through a cable television quote.

---

### Defense Mechanisms

| Mechanism | Level | Evidence |
|-----------|-------|----------|
| **Denial** | Pathological | Flat rejection that the investigation has legitimate basis: "illegally... set up" |
| **Projection** | Immature | Comey accused of procedural manipulation—Trump himself routinely uses intermediaries and cutouts |
| **Rationalization** | Neurotic | Dershowitz's legal commentary recruited to provide intellectual scaffolding for what is ultimately an emotional rejection of oversight |
| **Splitting** | Immature | Dershowitz/Carlson = good/truth-tellers; Comey/Mueller apparatus = corrupt/cowardly |

---

## Rhetorical & Propaganda Analysis

**Devices employed:**
1. **Borrowed authority / Ethos transfer:** Dershowitz is a legitimate legal scholar; his credibility is parasitically transferred to Trump's position
2. **Laundry-chain quoting:** Tucker Carlson amplifies Dershowitz; Trump amplifies Tucker. Each step adds deniability while the message travels
3. **Leading question as assertion:** "In other words, the whole thing was illegally and very unfairly set up?" presents a conclusion as a question, insulating against direct accountability while ensuring audience reads it as fact
4. **Superlative emotional loading:** "very unfairly"—the modifier "very" is characteristic Trump intensifier
5. **Implicit DARVO:** Comey is repositioned from witness/whistleblower to criminal actor; Trump repositioned from investigated to victim
6. **Whataboutism (structural):** Focus on Comey's conduct redirects from substance of any investigation findings

**Dehumanizing language:** Absent in this post.
**Violent imagery:** Absent.
**Stochastic terrorism:** Not present—this is institutional attack, not individual targeting.

---

## Gaslighting & Reality Distortion

**Present.** The characterization of the Special Counsel appointment as "illegal" is a deliberate distortion of documented legal procedure. Rod Rosenstein appointed Mueller through established DOJ regulations (28 C.F.R. § 600.1) following Comey's firing. The claim attempts to install an alternative factual framework in which the investigation's very existence is a crime—requiring followers to accept this as a condition of in-group membership.

**DARVO structure:**
- **Deny:** "This was illegally set up" (denies legitimacy)
- **Attack:** Comey as coward who "laundered" information
- **Reverse Victim and Offender:** Comey is the criminal; Trump is the wronged party

---

## Cognitive Status Assessment

**No significant cognitive flags in this post.** The "Special C" truncation is a Twitter character-limit artifact from mid-thread composition, not a word-retrieval failure. The argumentative structure is simple but internally coherent: [Comey did X] → [X caused appointment of Special Counsel] → [therefore, setup]. Syntax is functional. No phonemic or semantic paraphasia observed.

**Complexity score vs. baseline:** Consistent with 2018 Twitter baseline. No marked deviation.

---

## Fact Verification

| Claim | Verdict | Evidence |
|-------|---------|----------|
| "Comey leaked information to a Columbia Law School professor" | **Mostly True** | Comey provided memo contents to Daniel Richman (Columbia Law), who shared with press. DOJ IG later found improper handling of government documents, though not classified material. |
| "This caused the appointment of a Special Counsel" | **Half True** | Comey stated publicly the leak was intended to prompt special counsel appointment. Rosenstein's appointment memo cited Comey's firing. However, appointment had independent statutory basis under 28 C.F.R. §600.1 regardless. |
| "The Special Counsel was appointed illegally" | **False** | Appointed under 28 C.F.R. §600.1 by Deputy AG Rosenstein through established DOJ procedure. Multiple courts reviewed aspects of the investigation; none found the appointment unlawful. |
| "The process was 'very unfairly set up'" | **Unverifiable** | Opinion/characterization. Not a falsifiable factual claim. |

Overall Veracity: 45%

## Archetypal Analysis

**Primary archetype: Victim/Martyr.** This post lacks the King or Warrior energy of Trump's rally mode. The vulnerable narcissistic state produces the Victim archetype—persecuted by a corrupt system, wronged by a cowardly bureaucrat, vindicated only by the brave truth-tellers (Dershowitz, Carlson) willing to speak up.

**Secondary archetype: Trickster (structural).** The leading-question-as-assertion is a Trickster move—it breaks epistemic convention, says without saying, and forces the audience to complete the rhetorical act themselves.

**Shadow projection:** Comey is characterized as someone who lacked courage and manipulated processes through intermediaries. These are precisely the characteristics evident in Trump's own behavior pattern—routing attacks through media allies rather than direct confrontation.

---

## Order/Chaos Dynamics

**Order attacker.** The target here is the *legitimacy* of institutional legal process. By characterizing the Special Counsel appointment as "illegal," Trump attacks the established order of DOJ procedure—not as a chaos agent, but as someone claiming the order itself is corrupt and therefore invalid.

**Asymmetric application:** The "real" legal order (by implication) would not investigate him; any investigation is definitionally an abuse of that order.

**Grievance articulated:** The investigation is a corrupt product of a cowardly bureaucrat's self-serving manipulation. Blame is assigned specifically to Comey, with the apparatus of the Special Counsel as collateral damage.

---

## Danger Assessment

**Level: None elevated.** This post attacks an institution and a named official in his public capacity; it does not target private individuals or use language that would incite third-party action against a specific person. The rhetoric is delegitimizing rather than eliminationist.

---

## Summary

This is a structurally sophisticated disinformation unit operating through proxy-amplification: Dershowitz's legal credibility is filtered through Tucker Carlson's platform and then re-amplified by Trump with an editorial leading question that asserts conspiracy while performing inquiry. The timing (9:28 PM EDT) and stylistic markers confirm authentic authorship.

The psychological substrate is a **vulnerable narcissistic state** triggered by compound injury: the Woodward book's same-day release exposed White House dysfunction, while the Mueller investigation continued as an existential threat to the grandiose self-image. Rather than direct rage expression, Trump deploys *rationalization through borrowed authority*—a more sophisticated defensive formation than his typical blunt attacks, suggesting either tactical restraint or the influence of legal advisors filtering his impulse through safer rhetorical channels.

**DARVO** is the operative mechanism: Comey is repositioned from witness to criminal, Trump from investigated to victim. The claim that the Special Counsel was "illegally set up" is factually false but serves as an epistemic loyalty test for the audience—those who accept it join the in-group; those who question it align with the corrupt order. This is textbook epistemic closure construction, consistent with the shared psychosis dynamic documented across this period.

## Authorship Analysis

**Self-Written** (score: 82%)

### Indicators

- 9:28 PM EDT timing — within documented late-evening posting window
- Thread continuation style with leading ellipses
- Signature leading-question-as-assertion construction
- 'Special C' is character-limit truncation artifact of organic composition, not aide formatting
- Deployment of friendly media proxy (Tucker Carlson) with editorial gloss — characteristic Trump amplification pattern

## Psychological Profile

### State

**Vulnerable State**

**Trigger:** Narcissistic Injury — Exposure (Mueller investigation + Woodward book same-day release)

**Rage:** Intensity 45% targeting Comey / Special Counsel apparatus
- Proportionality: 20%

Sentiment: -0.58

### Clinical

**Malignant Narcissism:**
- Narcissistic: 72%
- Antisocial: 45%
- Paranoid: 68%
- Sadism: 15%

**Defense Mechanisms:**
- denial (pathological)
- projection (immature)
- splitting (immature)
- rationalization (neurotic)

**Cognitive Complexity:**
- Complexity: 38%

**Parasocial Techniques:**
- borrowed authority via Dershowitz
- Tucker Carlson amplification chain
- leading question completing the thought the audience is meant to internalize
- shared victimhood framing

## Danger Assessment

**NONE**

### Gaslighting

- Characterizes procedurally lawful Special Counsel appointment as 'illegal' — denial of documented legal reality
- DARVO: Comey repositioned as criminal actor, Trump as victim
- Leading question format installs false factual premise while performing epistemic humility
- Epistemic loyalty test: accepting 'illegal setup' framing required for in-group membership

## Fact Checks (4)

_The model's verdicts from 2026-03-23._

> Comey leaked information to a Columbia Law School professor

**MOSTLY TRUE**

Comey provided memo contents to Daniel Richman (Columbia Law), who shared with press. DOJ IG later found improper handling of government documents, though not classified material.

Sources: DOJ Inspector General Report 2019; Congressional testimony record

> This caused the appointment of a Special Counsel

**HALF TRUE**

Comey stated publicly the leak was intended to prompt special counsel appointment. Rosenstein's appointment memo cited Comey's firing. However, appointment had independent statutory basis under 28 C.F.R. §600.1 regardless.

Sources: Comey Senate testimony June 2017; Rosenstein appointment memo May 2017

> The Special Counsel was appointed illegally

**FALSE**

Appointed under 28 C.F.R. §600.1 by Deputy AG Rosenstein through established DOJ procedure. Multiple courts reviewed aspects of the investigation; none found the appointment unlawful.

Sources: 28 C.F.R. §600.1; Federal court records

> The process was 'very unfairly set up'

**UNVERIFIABLE**

Opinion/characterization. Not a falsifiable factual claim.

Overall Veracity: 45%

## Tags

- mueller-investigation (95%)
- comey (88%)
- proxy-amplification (85%)
- darvo (82%)
- vulnerable-narcissism (78%)
- epistemic-closure (75%)
- dershowitz (72%)
- tucker-carlson (70%)
- woodward-fear (65%)
- leading-question-as-assertion (80%)

## That day

_From trump.fm's machine-generated digest of the day, not his words._

**Two Fronts: Woodward's *Fear* and Florence's Fury Produce a Day of Defensive Oscillation**

Trump spent the day toggling between two tracks: defending himself against the fallout from Bob Woodward's book release and playing the role of hurricane-ready commander-in-chief as Florence bore down on the East Coast. The evening before and early morning brought a burst of anger directed at Comey, Maxine Waters, and the Mueller investigation, with multiple posts quoting Fox News allies to assert his innocence. He also relitigated the Puerto Rico hurricane response, calling it an "unappreciated great job" while blaming the mayor of San Juan. By afternoon, the political attacks subsided and he settled into a calmer presidential mode, closing the night at a Medal of Honor reception.

Full digest for 2018-09-12: https://trump.fm/date/2018-09-12/analysis

## Citation

- APA: Trump, D. J. (2018, September 12). ....giving the information, and causing the... [Social media post]. X (Twitter). trump.fm. https://trump.fm/post/x_1039687158456639489
- MLA: Trump, Donald J. "....giving the information, and causing the appointment of..." X (Twitter), 12 Sep. 2018. trump.fm, https://trump.fm/post/x_1039687158456639489. Accessed 9 Oct. 2026.
- Chicago: Donald J. Trump, "....giving the information, and causing the appointment of...," X (Twitter), September 12, 2018, archived at trump.fm, https://trump.fm/post/x_1039687158456639489.

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