If you hadn't heard of Gates much, he's been under investigation as well, just not as noticed by the media. As the Daily Beast notes, Gates is a serious link to Russia.
As Silverman noted at Balloon Juice, which I linked to earlier, it's clear that Mueller is going first after the stuff he can prove in a court of law without any heavy lifting. Manafort's "questionable" business practices - on the radar since 2012 - makes him an easy target to get... and a likely would-be witness willing to flip on others when a good deal is on the table.
It's not the grand slam a lot of Never trumpers was hoping for - if Mueller had indicted Kushner, Flynn, and donnie junior today as well, I would seriously revoke my No Drinking rule and get smashed on the finest whiskey - but it's a solid base hit. The game is on, muthafuckas, and trump is going to be flailing like the wounded shitgibbon that he is.
With thanks to Betty Cracker for this image link:
1 comment:
I just read the 31 page indictment:
https://www.politico.com/f/?id=0000015f-6d73-d751-af7f-7f735cc70000
It would seem that Mueller is fulfilling his remit of nailing Fergus for collusion by first demonstrating in rock solid and vivid detail the corrupt relationship Manafort (and Gates) had with dirty Russian money for many years, the specific services rendered in exchange for the boatloads of filthy money (read that advancing the interests of Russia in the US and in Ukraine), and the elaborate lengths they went to in order to hide said filthy money.
It then just becomes an extension of the (as it is called in the indictment) "scheme" that Manafort would continue to advance those Russian interests from within Fergus' presidential campaign.
They have them both dead to rights on multiple felonies in which their guilt is not a question. They both failed to disclose money received and lobbying services rendered for multiple years in violation of FARA and the Bank Secrecy Act.
The bottom of the indictment states intent upon conviction to seek forfeiture of all involved properties, including the apartment in SoHo and the brownstone in Brooklyn which were used to obtain loans as part of the money laundering scheme, and his house in Virginia, and apparently, everything in them. It states that if any of the properties are for any reason unavailable for forfeiture, "it is the intent of the United States of America, pursuant to Title 18, United States Code, Section 982(b) and Title 28, United States Code, Section 2461(c), incorporating Title 21, United States Code, Section 853, to seek forfeiture of any other property of said defendant."
Ooopsie!
-Doug in Oakland
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