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Today could not have gone better for President Trump. Robert Mueller’s indictments against Paul Manafort and Rick Gates, along with the newly unsealed indictment against George Papadopoulos could not have helped Trump more.
Remember, Trump isn’t interested in defending anyone not named Donald Trump (with the possible exception of his children). Therefore, hiring dirty Manafort and literally siccing the special counsel on him isn’t a problem for him. The fact that (so far) nothing has tied Trump himself to any of these charges is simply heaven-sent for the president.
Sorry, but this is years ago, before Paul Manafort was part of the Trump campaign. But why aren't Crooked Hillary & the Dems the focus?????
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 30, 2017
….Also, there is NO COLLUSION!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 30, 2017
This reminds of of Mark Cuban‘s wry (or rye, as you wish) observation.
Look, if you spotted Donald Trump two pieces of bread and behind him was a refrigerator full of ham, he couldn’t collude with the Russians to make a ham sandwich. Right?
The fact is, whatever Mueller is looking for, he is unlikely to find some kind of smoking gun of Trump campaign collusion, without uncovering a smoking gun of the DNC, Obama administration, and Clinton campaign’s collusion. Vladimir Putin is an equal opportunity colluder.
Mueller’s also unlikely to “flip” Manafort over some tax and foreign agent charges from six years ago, unless by flip he means spill the beans on Tony Podesta and the Democrat lobbyist firm The Podesta Group.
All these things are good for Trump, because he gets to deflect yet another news cycle away from any inconvenient legislative failures, military casualties, Gold Star families, and focus on Russia for a day. As much as Russia seems to be the bane of Trump’s presidency, it’s always been his go to when he wants to wag the MSM’s dog.
Reports
Paul Manafort Indictment: A Guide to Understanding | National Review
First things first, does the Manafort indictment have anything to do with the Trump campaign?
No, not on its face. The indictment relates to Manafort’s personal business dealings with the Ukrainian government, former Ukrainian president Victor Yanukovych, and a Ukrainian political party called the Party of Regions. It remains to be seen whether Special Counsel Mueller will use this indictment as leverage to pressure Manafort to cooperate fully with his much broader investigation into whether there were “any links and/or coordination between the Russian government and individuals associated with the campaign of President Donald Trump.”
BREAKING: Another Trump Advisor Pleads Guilty To Making False Statements | The Resurgent
Another indictment of a former Trump advisor has just been revealed. Papadopolous pled guilty on Oct. 5, but the case was sealed until this morning. Papadopolous is the third Trump associate that is known to have been snared by the Mueller investigation.
Trump RESPONDS to Manafort’s indictment! – The Right Scoop
Trump just took to Twitter a few minutes ago to respond to Manafort’s indictment by the feds this morning. It’s entirely possible that more indictments will come that includes “Hillary & the Dems”. The rumor mill is ripe that the lesser known Tony Podesta’s group is one of the unnamed groups in Manafort’s indictment.
Final thoughts
While Papadopoulos’s indictment does indicate that he lied to the FBI about the timing and nature of his contacts with a Russian “professor,” and his possible intention to serve as a go-between for the Trump campaign and Russia for getting “dirt” on Hillary, that doesn’t necessarily point to collusion. The Clinton campaign itself paid for all kinds of dirt on Trump from the Russians, albeit through a law firm, then Fusion GPS, and finally to Christopher Steele, the dossier’s compiler. What constitutes “collusion,” how many cut-outs and convoluted money trails does it take to establish this? And is an effort to get dirt on a political opponent enough?
Certainly, there’s more to come as the investigation moves into a prosecutorial phase, and continues to unfold in its fact-finding mission. Nobody can declare Trump clear. But for today, he revels his own exculpation. And even more, that the media has nothing on him this day.
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