6495

I literally had this convo at work today with a Trump voter, how Trump saves us money by staying inside the US compared to Obama who traveled the world.

6496
6497

Heh, some of the world is saving us money by not letting him visit.

6498

And, most importantly, he’s sent a thinly veiled warning to the White House: No one’s finances are off limits. If 2017 had the president’s inner circle sweating, 2018 could feel like a sauna.

And no one may feel more heat than Paul Manafort. In Washington legal circles, there’s a broad expectation that Mueller will file what’s called a superseding indictment of Manafort and Rick Gates, his erstwhile business partner—and alleged partner in crime. Gates and Manafort both pleaded not guilty when Mueller’s team filed their indictment on Oct. 30. Legal experts say there may be more charges to come.

“I would expect a superseding indictment to come down relatively soon,” said Jonathan Turley, a professor at George Washington University’s law school.

“There was much in the narrative of the indictment that referenced crimes not charged,” he added. “Prosecutors will often issue a superseding indictment as the grand jury continues its work. There’s also a tactical reason for this, that superseding indictments tend to grind defendants a bit more over time.”

A superseding indictment would essentially replace the current indictment of Manafort. And in that current indictment, Mueller’s team hinted there was more to come. In particular, they hinted at potential tax charges for Manafort’s foreign financial transactions. Federal prosecutors can bring charges against any American who has money in a foreign bank account and doesn’t check a box on their tax forms disclosing it. The Manafort/Gates indictment describes financial behavior that may be liable for that kind of prosecution. And that’s an indicator that Mueller’s team may be preparing to formally charge both men with violating tax laws.

A former prosecutor from the Justice Department’s tax division said Mueller handed down what’s known as a “speaking indictment”—in other words, an indictment that contains more information than necessary.

“It’s a way of dirtying up a defendant without having to actually prove the conduct,” he said. “I think, in fairness to them, they probably rushed it because they didn’t want to wait for the tax division approval on those tax counts. That, I assume, would be working its way through the system.”

6499

Collaborators is a nice word for ‘traitors’.

6500

this x40 billion

It’s an asymmetrical dynamic. Any game can only be played when everyone plays in good faith, and politics at least in certain senses is a game. You can’t play chess with someone who hits you on the head with a crowbar when you get them in check.

If voters don’t punish politicians for hypocrisy, then there is no penalty at all. The electorate has failed its duty and democracy is wheezing along on fumes.

6501

6502

It’s gonna be amazing if Trump goes down due to popowhatshisface.

6503

I mean Trump went up on stage at a rally and said “Russia please release Clinton’s emails” so he’s kinda stupid too.

6504

I think that him saying that will become the smoking gun for his impeachment and removal from office.

6505

So, a 2017 exiting without The Donald starting WW3, that has to be considered a Win, no?

6506

Hey, we’re not quite there yet. Don’t jinx it.

6507

You can flip it around, though: “He was obviously just making a crack – if he’d actually colluded he wouldn’t be stupid enough to call attention to it.”

Of course, he is just that stupid, but still the argument would be made.

6508

He pretty much has proven so far that he does what he says, no matter how stupid that may be. I see your point, but I think that was meant to let the Russians know he wanted them to release the info.

6509

Also, people who are skilled at sports/games are often bullies to people who aren’t. Is that good faith or sportsmanship?

6510

A loyal citizen permanently “retired” to an estate somewhere in the motherland, or a loose end tied up?

"References to Joseph Mifsud, the Maltese professor who court documents say told Trump campaign foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos that Russia had “dirt” on Hillary Clinton, have been removed from the website of the university in Italy where he’s worked for years. […]

The bio now leads to a 404 error page, while Mifsud’s name no longer appears on the LCU’s faculty pages.

An LCU professor, who spoke to BuzzFeed News on condition of anonymity because they feared they would lose their job, said they and other colleagues haven’t seen the Maltese academic on the Rome campus in many weeks."

6511

The Fusion GPS guys plead to have their congressional testimony released, because they swear that the GOP is misrepresenting them and ignoring the clear evidence of shady, shady dealings on Trump’s side.

https://mobile.nytimes.com/2018/01/02/opinion/republicans-investigation-fusion-gps.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fopinion&action=click&contentCollection=opinion&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=1&pgtype=sectionfront&referer=http%3A%2F%2Ftheweek.com%2Fspeedreads%2F746333%2Ffusion-gps-founders-call-gop-lawmakers-release-transcripts-bombshell-testimony

6512

It’s way worth reading this story. Ignore Trump’s dick measuring contest and focus on this.

6513

Donald Trump’s former chief strategist Steve Bannon has described the Trump Tower meeting between the president’s son and a group of Russians during the 2016 election campaign as “treasonous” and “unpatriotic”, according to an explosive new book seen by the Guardian.

Bannon, speaking to author Michael Wolff, warned that the investigation into alleged collusion with the Kremlin will focus on money laundering and predicted: “They’re going to crack Don Junior like an egg on national TV.”

6514

But wait. Bannon said there was definitely a whole lot of substance to potential wrongdoing involving that meeting with Jr. and Manafort and Russians? Huh. Malathor assured me there was nothing to all of this.