Trump surrounded himself with yes-men who treated him like a cult leader. As his impeachment trial looms, that could prove a disaster.

AP/Business Insider

• President Trump is on the back foot thanks to an intervention by Lev Parnas, a once-fanatical supporter involved in the Ukraine shadow diplomacy which prompted Trump's impeachment.
• Ahead of Trump's trial in the Senate, Parnas emerged with a slew of allegations which make the president's position even more difficult to defend.
• In a tell-all interview, Parnas spoke of a cult-like devotion to Trump which inverted after he was discarded.
• The dynamic echoes that of Michael Cohen, another zealous Trump ally who turned on him.
• Relying on, then discarding, hyper-loyal followers has smoothed Trump's path in the short term, but proved damaging further down the line.
• Given the sensitive political dynamic at play going in to his trial, it could prove more costly than Trump imagined.
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As he heads closer to becoming only the third president in US history to face an impeachment trial in the Senate, a familiar pattern is emerging in the associations that got President Donald Trump in this position.

At the same time, expectations that he could speed through the process with a fast, clean acquittal are beginning to evaporate.

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