Posted on 10/30/2017 2:14:03 PM PDT by tjd1454
Shouldn't the title read The Deep State Strikes Back, you ask? No, unfortunately, because there is precious little to react to. After nine months of supposedly controlling all three branches of power, the much-heralded Trump “Drain the Swamp” revolution has scarcely managed to land a blow against the Deep State, which not only survives, but continues to thrive in the midst of the liberal cesspool inside the Beltway.
The problems began early on, as Trump failed to decisively clean house and remove high-level holdovers from the previous administration, something which his Democratic predecessors quickly and ruthlessly accomplished. It was a rooky mistake by someone who, despite his campaign rhetoric, governed like the businessman he was, seeking to build consensus. When a corporation is bought out, the new management typically retains much of the old administration simply because they “know the ropes” and thus are in a position to implement any new changes.
But here's the key difference: unlike corporate executives who are easily malleable so long as they retain their cushy jobs, Washington DC is a political battleground inhabited by ideologues committed to preserving and advancing the leftist, statist drift of the nation.
What MAGA cheerleaders fail to realize is that Trump is fundamentally not an ideologue, but a pragmatist –albeit one with laudable goals. To be sure, much good has been accomplished, including the appointment of Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch as well as a growing number of conservative federal judges. Bureaucratic red tape has been rolled back, the energy sector is being unleashed, and efforts are ongoing to bring fundamental reform to healthcare and the tax code.
Yet all this has been accomplished without uprooting the Deep State, much of which has been allowed to remain in place in the vain hope that it would stand idly by as everything they have been working for is systematically dismantled. A prominent example is the Eric Holder appointment, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who stands accused of political conflicts in the Clinton email matter after it was revealed that his wife received nearly $700,000 in campaign contributions from longtime Clinton associates during her unsuccessful run for the Virginia state senate.
Preet Bharara, former US Attorney for the Southern District of New York – an Obama appointee – has noted regarding the Robert Mueller inquiry that “it's odd and unusual” that Rod Rosenstein is overseeing an investigation for which he is a witness. Indeed, Rosenstein is responsible for the catastrophe that is the so-called “Russian collusion” investigation, having given Mueller carte blanche to conduct an open-ended witch hunt fueled by a massive staff composed largely of die-hard liberals racking up tens of thousands of man-hours seeking evidence against Trump.
The fierce counterattack began today. Special Counsel Mueller has chosen to go after arguably the weakest link in Trump's chain of command over the past few years: Paul Manafort. Due to his questionable associations, Manafort should never have been hired in the first place. But Trump, ever the pragmatic businessman, saw Manafort as someone ideally situated to perform a specific task; namely, to head off a potential revolt against him at the convention. That threat failed to materialize, and two months later Manafort was fired after reports emerged about his undisclosed consulting work with Ukraine.
Earlier in the investigation, in an unusual action which the Washington Post said added “huge intrigue to the Russia probe,” Mueller took the unusual step of authorizing a pre-dawn no-knock raid of Manafort’s home to execute a surprise search warrant. According to the Post, Manafort had become an “increasingly major wild card” in the inquiry.
Mueller played one of his trump (no pun intended) cards today. Manafort and his business associate, Rick Gates, were indicted on 12 counts in federal court, including conspiracy against the United States, conspiracy to launder money, acting as an unregistered foreign agent for a foreign government, and making false and misleading statements. Revealingly, the indictment deals with issues dating from 2012, and contained no accusations regarding the alleged Trump-Russian collusion during the 2016 election.
No matter; it was soon apparent that the Manafort indictment was Mueller’s opening gambit against Trump, which also included news of the indictment of ex-campaign adviser George Papadopoulos, who met with Russian contacts to discuss “dirt” on then presidential-candidate Hillary Clinton. Papadopoulos reportedly pleaded guilty to misleading the F.B.I. regarding those conversations, which as the indictment itself admits were not authorized by the Trump campaign.
Manafort and Gates both plead not guilty in federal court Monday afternoon, and were released on bail of $10,000,000 and $5,000,000 respectively, on condition of being confined to home detention. Special Counsel Mueller has long experience in cornering his prey, and appears to be adeptly leveraging his considerable powers to compel Manafort to turn state’s evidence against the President. Mueller’s heavy-handed tactics have raised concerns by Harvard law professor emeritus and lifelong Democrat Alan Dershowitz, who dismisses them as “the criminalization of political differences." "He has to go after somebody," said Dershowitz, "He can't just spend all the money and do nothing."
To the great relief of the mainstream media, the actions of Special Counsel Robert Mueller today effectively sidelined more legitimate and substantive scandals such as Uranium One, Fusion GPS, and the massive steaming pile that is the Podesta Group/DNC/Clinton/Russia connection. Instead, all eyes are on Paul Manafort. Faced with millions of dollars in fines and up to 40 years in prison, having been summarily dismissed after a scant two months service, only time will reveal the degree of loyalty he feels he owes his erstwhile employer.
This is an attempt to make FR as kooky as DU. Posting obvious fake-fact blogs in News rightly invites ridicule of FR.
It is Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe whose wife got the payoff from Terry McAuliffe.
Thanks for pointing it out - the blog on the website has been corrected.
No names for any of my he writing. The linkage isn’t to originally published articles but to whomever’s reprinting of it
When I can’t find out anything about a source I tend to discount all of it
Only when they where in session.
“After nine months of supposedly controlling all three branches of power, the much-heralded Trump “Drain the Swamp” revolution has scarcely managed to land a blow against the Deep State, which not only survives, but continues to thrive in the midst of the liberal cesspool inside the Beltway.”
Really? We shot three of them dead in the head and another dozen are serving 10 to 30 years in state prison. Hell, we recently arrested one of Obuma’s big chiefs in BLM and charged him with attempted murder. Pay attention, freakzoid, fantasy website.
Sorry, too late. They’ve all been creeps since WAY before 9/11.
Mueller’s one and only target is Trump. This is intended to get democratic majorities in 2018, or failing that, to weaken Trump by 2020 so that he doesn’t run or defeated if he does.
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