Posted on 11/01/2017 3:59:20 PM PDT by Starman417
As you probably well know, Robert Mueller filed his first indictments on Monday. There is more sizzle than there is steak. Paul Manafort and Richard Gates were indicted on charges having nothing to do with collusion or the Trump campaign, but rather having to do with their lobbying efforts on the part of entities in the Ukraine. Also indicted was George Papadopoulos, a low level Trump volunteer who fell into the Scooter Libby trap- he lied about doing things that were entirely legal.
One of the charges brought against Manafort and Gates was failing to register as a foreign agent:
The offense of failing to register as a foreign agent (Count Ten) may be a slam-dunk, but it is a violation that the Justice Department rarely prosecutes criminally. There is often ambiguity about whether the persons actions trigger the registration requirement, so the Justice Departments practice is to encourage people to register, not indict them for failing to do so. It may well be that Manafort and Gates made false statements when they belatedly registered as foreign agents, but it appears that Muellers office has turned one offense into two, an abusive prosecutorial tactic that flouts congressional intent.It should be noted that Tony Podesta, the brother of John Podesta, who worked with Manafort for the same client, also failed to register under FARA. Podesta resigned from the Podesta group and dissolved the company - as though he knew something is coming. Podesta also is said to have mislead Congress about the extent of his Ukraine lobbying efforts:
One of Washington's most powerful lobbying firms did not disclose the wide extent of its lucrative political work for a Ukrainian group tied to both onetime Trump adviser Paul Manafort and to pro-Russian politicians, new records show.A reasonable person could expect that Podesta will face charges similar to those filed against Manafort. The Mueller investigation is beginning to look like a crusade against those lobbying for foreign interests. The case against Manafort is not the strongest and there is nothing to implicate Trump:The firm, the Podesta Group, said nothing in a 2012 lobbying report to Congress about at least 32 meetings, emails and other communications it had with the State Department, at a time when Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was scrutinizing Ukraine's upcoming election, records show. The new disclosures shed light on the web of contacts between Russian-leaning Ukrainians, Washington lobbyists and U.S. policymakers during the Obama administration. The Podesta Group filed new, detailed lobbying disclosures in April to augment lobbying reports from 2012 to 2014 that had given little detail.
From President Trumps perspective, the indictment is a boon from which he can claim that the special counsel has no actionable collusion case. It appears to reaffirm former FBI director James Comeys multiple assurances that Trump is not a suspect. And, to the extent it looks like an attempt to play prosecutorial hardball with Manafort, the president can continue to portray himself as the victim of a witch hunt.There would likely be no case against Manafort had he not joined the Trump campaign:
Even from Paul Manaforts perspective, there may be less to this indictment than meets the eye its not so much a serious allegation of conspiracy against the United States as a dubious case of disclosure violations and money movement that would never have been brought had he not drawn attention to himself by temporarily joining the Trump campaign.It has been speculated that Papadopoulos, who Mueller described as a "pro-active witness", might have been wearing a wire and the left wing media went orgasmic over the possibility. Its usefulness is dubious as he was no longer part of the campaign by the time he was arrested.
The great intoxication in Leftworld on Monday has given way to a more calm sobriety. The disappointment in a lack of evidence against Trump is palpable. While this still leaves many questions unanswered, there is much we now know about democrats and their collusion with the Russians.
We know for a fact that hillary clinton and the DNC used the same smear merchant Putin used to assail Segei Magnitsky:
(Excerpt) Read more at floppingaces.net ...
Lock her up and Americans will live longer !!!
use this link -
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