Thus ends the 11-month witchhunt against Donald Trump and the claims of “collusion” with the Russian government.
From Politico:
Paul Manafort, President Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman, has been indicted Monday as part of special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election.
Another campaign official, Rick Gates, was also indicted by the federal grand jury.
They are facing 12 counts, including conspiracy to launder money, conspiracy against the United States, being an unregistered agent of a foreign principal, false and misleading FARA statements and other charges.
The 31 page indictment can be read here. In essence, Manafort worked directly with the pro-Russian Party of Regions headed up by former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich over a multi-year period beginning in 2010 and ending in 2015.
The charges at this rate amount to tax evasion and failure to register as a foreign agent — two things that both Manafort and Gates will have to personally answer to in a court of law.
…but there is nothing about Trump.
Nothing.
Just to evidence how much nothing there is, the Muller indictment doesn’t even mention Trump’s name.
There is literally nothing here.
What might be of interest is the method of how Manafort et al. laundered the money from the Ukrainian government (not the Russian government, mind you) and how that might be duplicated over other national interest: China, Saudi Arabia, Gulf States, European interests, etc.
What should concern Democrats is that Muller’s probe is not yet concluded. Rest assured, the Russians play both sides of the aisle just like any other multinational or business interest… and as those details come to light, Trump’s hands might be the only ones that come out clean in that exchange.
