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Manafort indicted: Why ‘following the money’ looms large in Russia probe
The Christian Science Monitor ^ | October 30, 2017 | Mark Trumbull and Laurent Belsie - Staff Writers

Posted on 10/31/2017 6:13:54 AM PDT by Jagermonster

FINDING THE PATTERNS   Monetary transactions leave a tangible paper trail, which explains why tax-evasion charges may give Robert Mueller leverage in his investigation of alleged Trump-Russia ties.

WASHINGTON AND BOSTON—Sooner or later, it comes down to money.

Even in the highest-profile cases, involving possible crimes by mobsters or political officials or even presidents, the flow of illegal money is usually involved.

And that is why from Al Capone in 1931 to the Iran-Contra scandal in the 1980s to the Whitewater investigations in the 1990s, prosecutors have wielded tax-evasion charges with success.

In the current investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election, special counsel Robert Mueller is using the tax charges, along with money-laundering and other charges, not just to get justice, but as a lever to try to get former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort to cooperate with his investigation.

“There are lots of useful clubs” for the prosecutor, says Wes Oliver, a law professor at Duquesne University School of Law in Pittsburgh. “Does this one work? Sure!”

In this case, Mr. Mueller may have two levers: 1) a laundry list of charges that Mr. Manafort and his associate, Richard Gates, hid offshore accounts from tax officials and laundered the money in the United States to live a lavish lifestyle and 2) a bombshell revelation Monday that a low-level Trump campaign adviser who tried to set up a meeting with high-level Russian officials has pleaded guilty to making false statements to the FBI.

Legal experts say the revelation about the adviser, George Papadopoulos, has potentially bigger implications for the investigation than the Manafort case, at least for the moment, because he probably has agreed to cooperate with investigators. And his testimony links Manafort to the Russia probe, although . . .

(Excerpt) Read more at csmonitor.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Foreign Affairs; Government; Russia
KEYWORDS: manafort; mueller; witchhunt
Excerpted per rules.
1 posted on 10/31/2017 6:13:54 AM PDT by Jagermonster
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To: Jagermonster

Notice that the MSM is obsessed with Manafort and the uranium scandal is ignored. Mueller now is using his investigation to cover for the Clinton’s. No surprise.


2 posted on 10/31/2017 6:18:49 AM PDT by Spok
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To: Jagermonster

3) Podesta Group hired Manafort to launder money from Ukraine.


3 posted on 10/31/2017 6:19:38 AM PDT by Zuben Elgenubi (NOPe to GOPe)
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To: Jagermonster
...bombshell revelation Monday that a low-level Trump campaign adviser who tried to set up a meeting with high-level Russian officials has pleaded guilty to making false statements to the FBI.

So it's a fact that Papadopoulos is a known liar and Mueller's anti-Trump boys are going to believe anything he says? That's just dumb. The boy is going to tell the FBI anything they want to hear just to save his own ass. He did it once, he'll do it again.

4 posted on 10/31/2017 6:21:07 AM PDT by FlingWingFlyer (Has Sheila JACKSON LEE changed her name yet?)
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To: Jagermonster

Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Nothing to see folks except more liberal stupidity wrapped in a modicum of truth to lend its stupidity some air of credibility.


5 posted on 10/31/2017 6:21:32 AM PDT by Robert DeLong
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To: Jagermonster

That article is a nice little fantasy piece by a trump hater.


6 posted on 10/31/2017 6:25:39 AM PDT by Williams (Stop tolerating the intolerant.)
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To: Zuben Elgenubi

I did not see one mention of the Podesta Group in the article.


7 posted on 10/31/2017 6:28:17 AM PDT by Parley Baer
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To: Jagermonster

Was listening to last nights Mark Levin’s podcast. He discusses the case with Andrew McCarthy. Tax evasion was not one of the charges but rather violating other IRS rules.


8 posted on 10/31/2017 6:28:57 AM PDT by EVO X
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To: Jagermonster

The Papadopoulos testimony can potentially do the most harm. It all depends how far up the campaign chain his dealings with Russian sources went and if there was any actual quid pro quo done or real collusion. His actions however must be understood in the context of the times. It was thought and still believed that within Hillary’s 32,000 “lost e mails”, that there was evidence that not only would ruin her candidacy but likely imprison her. No doubt she and her advisers destroyed the e mails before they became evidence. It was also known that she stored those e mails privately on a very insecure server. It could have been hacked by unknown entities. Wikileaks for one.However Russian hackers are known to be very competent. If Trumps campaign thought it somehow could get access to those e mails, they would be fools not to. They could talk to anyone. The question is (and it is doubtful) that they did anything illegal in their attempts to get that trove. Mueller would have to prove a Trump approved actual quid pro quo to prove collusion. Doubt Papadopoulos testimony will establish real collusion.


9 posted on 10/31/2017 6:30:39 AM PDT by allendale (.)
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To: Zuben Elgenubi

If people are looking for the trail of illegally acquired and illegally invested money, just about all the paths are going to converge back to a very few sources, and NONE of them involve Donald Trump or the Trump campaign for President. Not to say that Donald Trump has not been involved at some point or another with such diverted funds, that would be impossible to avoid as a major player in entrepreneurship, but once learned of, this involvement, voluntarily or otherwise, would be divested with all practical speed.

But a LOT of the signposts are pointing back to another participant in the 2016 Presidential election, and I do not mean Gary Johnson or Jill Stein.

What Happened, indeed. That narrative does not touch on even 5% of what REALLY happened.


10 posted on 10/31/2017 6:32:36 AM PDT by alloysteel (The rhetorical question, "How stupid can you be?" is just considered to be a challenge by some.)
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To: Jagermonster

Mueller? Snake, Deep State Op.


11 posted on 10/31/2017 6:36:22 AM PDT by Texas Fossil ((Texas is not where you were born, but a Free State of Heart, Mind & Attitude!))
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To: Jagermonster

Writer compares this situation to Whitewater. And what happened to the Clintons over Whitewater?

Right.


12 posted on 10/31/2017 6:43:38 AM PDT by SaxxonWoods (CNN IS ISIS.)
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To: FlingWingFlyer; Liz; HarleyLady27; bitt

Post #4-
Did you notice that the law firm representing Papadopoulos is based in Chicago?

<>Breen & Pugh, 53 West Jackson Blvd, Suite 1215, Chicago, IL 60604.

That is a long-haul for legal representation for a minor crime. Does this fellow have family roots in Chicago?


13 posted on 10/31/2017 7:05:28 AM PDT by ptsal ( Get your facts first, then you can distort them as you please. - M. Twain)
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To: Parley Baer
I did not see one mention of the Podesta Group in the article.

Well, thats exactly my point.

14 posted on 10/31/2017 7:16:07 AM PDT by Zuben Elgenubi (NOPe to GOPe)
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To: Jagermonster

I often wonder how Obama became a multi-millionaire in eight years. How does the money trail wind around him?


15 posted on 10/31/2017 7:28:12 AM PDT by elpadre (AfganistaMr Obama said theoal was to "disrupt, dismantle and defeat al-hereQaeda" and its allies.)
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To: Jagermonster
How come they never said, "Follow the money" about the Clintons?

Fantasy flailing and wishing on their part...

16 posted on 10/31/2017 7:41:27 AM PDT by trebb (Where in the the hell has my country gone?)
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Comment #17 Removed by Moderator

To: Jagermonster

If the Russian investigation is allowed to proceed to its conclusion, I’ll bet the money will find its way to the Clinton Foundation.


18 posted on 10/31/2017 8:46:02 AM PDT by CommerceComet (Hillary: A unique blend of arrogance, incompetence, and corruption.)
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To: Max Tactical

Looks like the Greek-guy needs to up his skills on making spicy gyros and pita bread.


19 posted on 10/31/2017 9:00:53 AM PDT by ptsal ( Get your facts first, then you can distort them as you please. - M. Twain)
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To: Spok

And what is all that nonsense about pardons? Why would Trump pardon Manafort for crimes he may have committed long before joining the campaign?


20 posted on 10/31/2017 11:11:46 AM PDT by Chuckster ("Them Rag Heads just ain't rational" Curly Bartley 1973)
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