On Thursday 28 June 2018, Representative Jim Jordan (R-OH) grilled Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein before the U.S. House Judiciary Committee. Rep. Jordan immediately began with, "Mr. Rosenstein, why are keeping information from Congress?"
Very often, when a person is feigning - and they don't believe in/don't
have confidence in what they're saying - they default to over-acting.
They shout. They speak hyperbolically. They talk quickly. They refer to
themselves in the third person. Their anger is disproportional to the
social context. Such behavior is over-compensatory and the psyche's
attempt at covering up for their deception.
During a portion of his questioning, Representative Jordan spoke leaning on his desk, his shoulders rounded and rolled forward, his left elbow on his desk, with his jaw resting on the palm of his left hand. While he spoke, his flexed fourth and fifth fingers were covering the left portion of his mouth.
This nonverbal cluster is highly beta. Most notably, speaking with one's hand over any portion of the mouth, even for a moment, is a red flag. Representative Jordan does so for extended periods. Moreover, it indicates Mr. Jordan has low confidence in, significant hesitancy, and does not believe a significant portion of what he's saying.
SUMMARY: Representative Jordan is over-acting. His verbal language, paralanguage, and nonverbal behavior indicate he does not believe his own words.
Yesterday the FBI raided the office of Donald Trump's personal attorney, Michael Cohen. A few hours later, while meeting with senior military leadership, the President commented on this event - as well as on the recent mass-poisoning of civilians by Bashar al-Assad in Syria.
What follows is a partial nonverbal analysis of Donald Trump during this statement.
The President begins the meeting by saying, "So I just heard that - they broke into the office of one of - my personal attorneys — Ω good man. And, ah, it’s a disgraceful situation. It’s a total witch hunt. I’ve been saying it for a long time. I’ve wanted to keep it down. We’ve given, ah, I believe, over a million pages’ worth of documents to the Special Counsel."
Just before he says, "... a good man ...", Donald Trump elevates his both of his eyebrows - however, his right eyebrow elevates much more than his left. Such asymmetrical (or unilateral) eyebrow elevation indicates doubt/disbelief. Importantly, this nonverbal signal also occurred right after he said, "So I just heard that they broke into the office of one of my personal attorneys". Thus Donald Trump's disbelief could be directed toward either one of thesestatements (e.g., doubting Cohen is a good man, or in disbelief that the FBI raided Cohen's office).
From a paralanguage/statement analysis perspective, Trump's use of the words, "broke into" is inaccurate and hyperbolic - as it was, of course, a legal act by the FBI.
Additionally, notice that the President didn't say "FBI" - rather he used the nonspecific plural pronoun, "they". Use of the word "they" in this context, without at least first saying "FBI" - indicates the President's low confidence/emotional discomfort in his position.
Moreover, it's difficult to interpret the President's statement of, "I’ve wanted to keep it down" - as anything other than a personal desire to Obstruct Justice.
In the early portions of this video, the President exhibits several displays of what is known as a Lip Curl. A good example occurs during 1:02 and is captured in the above image (during the sentence, "So when I saw this and when I heard it - I heard it like you did - I said, that is really now on a whole - new level of unfairness.")
A Lip Curl involves the lips protruding outward - which primarily happens while speaking. The lips acquire a momentarily and characteristic flaring-outward morphology as they extend away from the teeth in a brief exaggerated motion. A lip curl indicates the alpha emotions of False Bravado, Hubris, Hyperbole, and Braggadocio. Additionally, there's often a component of Sarcasm present.
Now jump ahead to 6:35 - when President Trump displays a characteristic, hyper-alpha mid-level steeple. But this only lasts about three seconds...
He immediately crosses his arms (6:38) - and importantly, with his hands forming fists. Additionally, the fists are hidden beneath his arms. This dynamic occurs immediately as he's asked two simultaneous questions:
• "Mr. President, did you have an affair with Stormy Daniels?"
• "Why don't you just fire Mueller?"
The President uses this same posture throughout a large portion of the video. Crossing the arms - and crucially with one's hands in fists and hidden - is a profound and classic sign of defensiveness-related anxiety. This projects a highly beta emotional tone of low confidence and insecurity.
In the context of public appearances, it's extremely rare for any President to cross their arms - (On 17 November 1973, President Nixon crossed his arms just after he said, "Well, I am not a crook. I've earned everything I've got!"). Yet President Trump displays this body language frequently. Thus, it's not unreasonable to consider the very real possibility that Donald Trump has a movement disorder or a tremor-like condition (either a medical condition of the Central Nervous System or a secondary side-effect from a drug).
Intriguingly, his arms remained crossed - but his right hand becomes partially exposed when he begins talking about Syria and American Military 4:37. This display demonstrates that his relative comfort level has momentarily increased.
And although his right-hand retreats back to cover - with his arms remaining crossed - his index finger remains extended (4:47 - 4:49) as he says, "... and
we’re making a decision as to what we do with respect to the horrible
attack that was made near Damascus."
In this moment, the President was essentially pointing his right index finger at Bashar al-Assad.
At 5:34, President Trump again slips into a more comfortable mental state - with his right hand again being exposed as he says, "... so - we're going to make a decision tonight, or shortly thereafter..." (with respect to military action on Syria).
Beginning at 7:12, Trump continues, "One of the things they said, 'I fired Comey'. Well, I turned out to do the right thing, because you look at all of the things that he’s done and the lies, and you look at what’s gone on at the FBI with the insurance policy and all of the things that happened - turned out I did the right thing. Ah, But he signed - as you know, he also signed the FISA warrant. So Rod Rosenstein, who’s in charge of this, signed a FISA warrant, and he also, he also f- [stutter] signed a letter that was - essentially saying to fire James Comey. And he was right about that. He was absolutely right."
During 7:23 - 7:30, just after the President said, "... and you look at what’s gone on at the FBI ...", for about 7 seconds,the President displays a nonverbal signal which is very rare for him: He grasps his right index and middle finger with his left hand. This nonverbal signal indicates a very high level of anxiety.
Summary: Nonverbal and paralanguage analysis of President Trump's statement yesterday indicate:
• The FBI raid on Donald Trump's personal attorney, Michael Cohen, has the President extremely worried.
• The President's personal feelings are strongly influencing his military decision making. Donald Trump is more
comfortable talking about an act of war, than he is regarding
Michael Cohen, Stormy Daniels, James Comey, Robert Mueller, or the FBI.
• President Trump very directly admitted his desire to Obstruct Justice when he said, "It’s a total witch hunt. I’ve been saying it for a long time. I’ve wanted to keep it down."
ROD ROSENSTEIN (beginning at 6:35): I want to thank the federal agents and prosecutors who are working on this case for their exceptional service and I’ll be happy to take a few questions Ω Jack.
JOURNALIST (JACK): Is there concern that this - the indictment undermines the outcome of the election?
ROD ROSENSTEIN: What I have identified for you are the allegations in the indictment. There's no allegations in the indictment of any effect on the outcome of the election.Jessica∆ .
JOURNALIST (JESSICA): On page four of the indictment, paragraph six, it specifically talks about the Trump campaign, saying that defendants communicated with unwitting (7:09, subtle loose tongue jut) individuals associatedwith the Trump campaign(hard swallow). My question is later in the indictment, campaign officials are referenced not by their name, by, by campaign official one or two (button your lip/Sssh, 7:18) or three. Were campaign officials cooperative, or were they duped? What was their relationship with this?
ROD ROSENSTEIN: Then there’s no allegation in this indictment that any American had any knowledge - and the nature of the scheme was the kept defendants took extraordinary steps to make it appear they were ordinary American political activists - even going so far as to - base their activities on - a virtual private network here in the United States,so if anybody traced it back (7:44 - 7:45) to the first jump, they appeared to be American. Catherine.
JOURNALIST (CATHERINE): Have you had any assurances from the Russians they will provide these individuals for prosecution? (7:53 - 7:54, side to side anxiety/swagger)
ROD ROSENSTEIN: There've been no, ah, communication with the Russians about this. We’ll follow the ordinary process ah, of seeking cooperation and extradition. Thank you very much.
During 6:44, a split-second prior to calling on the journalist named Jack, Deputy AG Rosenstein scrapes/bites his lower teeth on his upper lip (and notated by the Ω symbol). This Bite Your Lip sign reveals his Anxiety - and more specifically - his Hesitancy to Disclose.
During 7:00, just after he says "Jessica", he displays another Bite Your Lip maneuver (notated by the ∆ symbol). These indicate Deputy AG Rosenstein does not want to fully reveal what he is thinking-feeling.
During 7:09, he displays a subtle Loose Tongue Jut as the journalist, Jessica, says, "unwitting". This is an indication of the emotion of: I've been caught (Navarro). It's yet another signal that not everything is being disclosed here.
It's important to emphasize that Deputy AG Rosenstein is NOT lying - but he's afraid - and he knows Jessica is implying an important distinction here.
During 7:10, Rosenstein exhibits a Hard Swallow as Jessica says,"individuals associatedwith the Trump campaign". A hard swallow is a nonspecific anxiety indicator.
During 7:18 as Jessica says, "one or two", Deputy AG Rosenstein displays a particular sub-type of Mouth Cover. This brushing/rubbing of the lip (particularly with the thumb) indicates the thought-emotions of: Ssssh, Be Quiet, and Button your lip. This is a further indication of a desire not to disclose further details.
During 7:22 - 7:23 as Jessica says, "cooperative", he displays another good example of a Hard Swallow - a further indication of significant Anxiety.
During 7:44 - 7:46 as he says, "United States" - Rosenstein is Bouncing up on Toes in excitation. He is proud that this tactic of the Russian election interference has been uncovered.
During 7:53 - 7:54, as the journalist, Catherine, says "individuals for prosecution" - the Deputy AG displays a Swaying Side-to-Side dynamic. In this context, this nonverbal signal projects the thought-emotions of: Swagger, I'm ready, and Bring 'em on.
Summary: Although Deputy AG Rod Rosenstein was honest during this press conference - he also displayed a strong hesitancy to disclose further information: That although these particular indictments are directed only toward the
named Russian individuals/organizations - they do not exempt anyone else
- nor preclude any future, related indictments - including more members of
the Trump campaign. Moreover, Rosenstein has knowledge such indictments are forthcoming.
From a body language perspective, Deputy AG Rosenstein provided many teaching examples during his presser. One nonverbal signal which few people ever notice - and even less interpret correctly is discussed here.
Beginning at 4:01, Deputy AG Rosenstein continues, "On September thirteenth of 2017, soon after the news media reported that the special counsel’s office was investigating evidence that Russian operatives had used social media to interfere with the 2016 election, one defendant allegedly wrote - quote [sic] We had a slight crisis here at work. The FBI busted our activity. So I got preoccupied with covering tracks Ω together with my colleagues - end-quote [sic] §"
At five different times (4:01- 4:02, 4:14 - 4:14, 4:16, 4:24 - 4:25, 4:29) during this one particular paragraph, Deputy AG Rosenstein bounces briefly up on his toes. Please watch the video several times at regular speed and at half speed to fully appreciate this dynamic.
This up-on-toes body language dynamic betrays a momentary surge in his adrenaline - which is occurring secondary his emotional excitation. These signals are both subtle and evanescent - and they're very often missed in everyday interactions - yet they tell us the emotional tone Rod Rosenstein is thinking-feeling in these moments.
Summary: Attorney General Rod Rosenstein was experiencing an adrenaline surge during his press conference on Friday. He was excited and has a high degree of confidence for success. In short, this signal is indicative of Rosenstein-Swagger. Yet he did not, however, reveal all his chess moves (well ... not all verbally).
