John R. Houk
October 31, 2017
This is a cross post of Western Journalism and WND
about the indictments of Paul Manafort and Rick Gates as well as an apparent plea
deal for George Papadopoulos squeezed for lying about his interaction with
Russians that perhaps Papadopoulos should have registered as a foreign agent.
The Papadopoulos plea deal is a bit sketchy because he was a volunteer with a
bit of uncertainty if acting on his own volition or was coached by someone to
contact Russians.
Before posting this morning, I was watching Fox and
Friends inattentively. A gal was interviewed in which I didn’t catch her
profession. However, I saw her again on my DVR recorded premiered show called Fox
News at Night with Shannon Bream. On Bream’s news show I discovered her
name is Sidney Powell a former Prosecutor and author of Licensed
to Lie. She criticized the wording of the indictment as being
weak citing laws and statutes that she believes have a sketchy application. Powell
also criticized Mueller’s lead prosecutor Andrew Weissmann for sketch
prosecutorial practices. Here is a quote about Weissman similar to what Powell
said on Fox and Friends:
“Andrew Weissmann, the prosecutor
tapped by Mueller to help lead the investigation, has also received criticism.
Sidney Powell, a former federal prosecutor recently wrote about Weissman in a
piece titled, ‘Judging by Mueller's staffing choices, he may not be very
interested in justice.’” (Gowdy slams Mueller team over leaks about
charges in Trump-Russia probe; By Joseph Weber; Fox News; 10/30/17)
But I did find another person - J. Christian Adams - who had a similar criticism of the weak
indictment put together by Mueller and Dem-oriented Special Prosecutor team:
Posted by Fox News
Published on Oct 30, 2017
New questions surrounding the
future of the Russia probe; reaction on 'The Story.'
I need to note that when I Googled the indictments against
Paul Manafort and Rick (Richard) Gates, the Google search results went
primarily to Leftist news sites and the Left oriented Mainstream Media (MSM).
The headlines of those searches indicate disgusting glee that the indictments
against Manafort and Gates will soon bring down President Donald Trump. This
Fake News glee was related even though the loosely worded indictments are
focused on Manafort/Gates business dealing with Russia before Barack Obama was
even President.
How in the world is that Trump/Russia collusion in the
November 2016 election?
Fire Mueller! Get a different Special Prosecutor. Begin
looking at Crooked Hillary and husband, Dem leadership – particularly involved
in Crooked Hillary’s campaign, Robert Mueller, James Comey, Rod Rosenstein, Loretta
Lynch and I have no doubt – into former President Barack Hussein Obama. For
what? The real Russian Collusion for starters.
****************
Paul Manafort Surrenders to Feds as Subject of First
Indictment In Mueller’s Russia Probe
By Jack Davis
October 30, 2017 6:32am
Paul Manafort, the former campaign chairman for President
Donald Trump who left the Trump campaign under a cloud amid allegations of
improper dealings involving the consulting business he had previously operated,
turned himself in to the FBI on Monday, according to multiple reports.
Manafort and longtime associate Rick Gates, who joined and
left the Trump campaign at the same time as Manafort, were indicted as part of
the investigation headed by special counsel Robert Mueller.
Mueller was appointed to head up a wide-ranging
investigation into allegations that there had been collusion between the Trump
campaign and Russia.
Manafort and Gates were indicted on 12 charges, including
“conspiracy against the United States,” “conspiracy to launder money” and
“false statements.”
The New York Times reported
Manafort “had been under investigation for violations of federal tax law, money
laundering and whether he appropriately disclosed his foreign lobbying.”
BREAKING: Ex-Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort and Richard Gates indicted on 12 counts, including "conspiracy against the United States" pic.twitter.com/zabSHg5Yre— NBC News (@NBCNews) October 30, 2017
Paul Manafort arrives at FBI field office in DC pic.twitter.com/TQHOZ4tb20— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) October 30, 2017
Manafort owed, it appears, something like $60 million to a Russian oligarch. That’s a lot of leverage over someone.— Chris Hayes (@chrislhayes) October 30, 2017
Manafort arrived at the FBI’s field office in Washington on
Monday morning. Gates turned himself in shortly afterward.
Manafort’s home was
raided by the FBI in July, and a number of documents were seized at that time.
Manafort, who piloted Trump’s campaign between June and
August 2016, has been under investigation by the FBI and Justice Department for
his relationship with former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych.
At the time of Manafort’s departure from the Trump
campaign, The Associated Press reported
that from 2012 to 2014, Manafort and Gates had been involved in a lobbying
effort to increase American support for a pro-Russian Ukrainian government and
did not disclose that they were working for a foreign government as required
under federal law.
Under the Foreign Agent Registration Act, Manafort
retroactively registered in
June with the Justice Department for the work he did during that time, for
which he was paid more than $17 million.
“Paul’s work ended well before he joined Candidate Trump’s
campaign,” spokesman Jason Maloni said in a statement at the time, according
to Politico.
“Paul was not simultaneously working as a foreign agent while he was working
for Trump.”
White House attorney Ty Cobb has said Trump has no fears
that Manafort might trade damaging testimony against Trump for a lighter
sentence in some sort of deal.
“The president has no concerns in
terms of any impact, as to what happens to them, on his campaign or on the
White House,” Cobb said.
Trump has said that his campaign never colluded with Russia.
++++++
MANAFORT INDICTED, CAMPAIGN VOLUNTEER PLEADS GUILTY IN
RUSSIA PROBE
Former Trump chairman charged with conspiring to
defraud U.S. in dealings with Ukraine
10/30/17 7:13 AM - Updated: 10/30/2017 4:13 PM
Fox Video on WND
WASHINGTON – Former
Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and an associate surrendered to federal
authorities Monday on felony charges of conspiracy against the United
States and other charges in special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation of
Russian influence on the 2016 election.
Meanwhile, a former campaign adviser to President
Donald Trump, George Papadopoulos, entered a guilty plea in the
investigation, admitting he lied to the FBI about his contacts with Russians.
The indictment swept up Manafort’s onetime business partner
and protégé Rick Gates, but it makes no allegations about the 2016 election.
Both pleaded not guilty.
It alleges 12 counts, including conspiracy against the
U.S., conspiracy to launder money, being an unregistered foreign agent, misleading
statements and failing to file reports of foreign bank accounts. The charges
relate to overseas business operations.
Watch Manafort walking into FBI headquarters with his
attorney: [Blog Editor: You’ll have to go WND to watch. I can’t find the
embed or the Fox News link.]
Papadopoulos, whose Oct. 5 guilty plea was unsealed
Monday, admitted lying to FBI agents about the nature of his interactions
with “foreign nationals” offering “dirt” on Clinton who allegedly were
attempting to line up a meeting between Trump and Russian President Vladimir
Putin.
According to Mueller’s filing, Papadopoulos met with a
female Russian national on March 24, 2016, shortly after learning he had become
a campaign adviser. Papadopoulos believed the Russian had connections with the
Russian government and could arrange a meeting with the Trump campaign. The
next month, he met with a professor in London who said operatives in Moscow had
“thousands” of Hillary Clinton’s emails. The filing, however, does not specify
whether the reference was to the emails stolen from the Democratic National
Committee’s computers.
Responding to reporters at the White House press briefing
Monday, press secretary Sarah Sanders said Papadopoulos didn’t have an
influential role in the campaign, describing him as a volunteer on an advisory
council that met one time during the year.
“Any actions he took would have been on his own,” Sanders
said.
In a tweet Monday morning, Trump emphasized the Manafort
indictment had nothing to do with Russian collusion.
“Sorry, but this is years ago, before Paul Manafort was part
of the Trump campaign,” Trump tweeted. ‘But why aren’t Crooked Hillary & the Dems the focus?????”
“Also, there is NO COLLUSION!” he said.
Mueller was appointed to investigate claims of
Russian collusion with the Trump campaign after the Democrats’ 2016
election loss, but now there are allegations against Democrats.
Last week, the Washington Post reported Hillary Clinton’s
2016 presidential campaign and the Democratic National Committee paid for the research for the largely
fabricated anti-Trump dossier. Late Wednesday, a complaint was filed with the Federal
Election Commission charging Clinton’s campaign and the DNC
violated campaign finance law by failing to disclose payments for the dossier.
Also last week, a source claimed that the Podesta Group, run by John Podesta’s
brother Tony, is a target of Mueller’s investigation.
And The Hill reported that
before a government panel in which Hillary Clinton was a member approved the
sale of a company controlling 20 percent of U.S. uranium reserves, the FBI was
sitting on evidence Russian nuclear industry officials were engaged in bribery,
kickbacks, extortion and money laundering designed to expand Moscow’s nuclear
business in the U.S.
In addition, a congressional inquiry led by Rep. Devin
Nunes, R-Calif., is focusing on how aides to President Obama “unmasked”
individuals caught up in government surveillance.
Manafort has denied wrongdoing. Many of the charges date
back as far as 2006.
Among the allegations is that Manafort moved $75 million to
offshore accounts without declaring the income for taxation purposes. He then
allegedly used $18 million to “fund a lavish lifestyle,” as the London
Daily Mail described it.
FBI agents staged an early morning raid on Manafort’s home
last summer, confiscating records.
According to the New York Times, Gates’ name appears on
documents linked to companies that Manafort’s firm established in Cyprus to
receive payments from his clients in Eastern Europe.
President Trump’s lawyer, Ty Cobb, assured reporters last
week Manafort does not have damaging information about the president to offer
prosecutors.
“The president has no concerns in terms of any impact, as to
what happens to them, on his campaign or on the White House,” Cobb said.
Manafort joined the Trump campaign in March 2016 and
developed a strategy that convinced delegates not to break with Trump in favor
of establishment candidates. Trump then appointed the veteran Republican
strategist as chairman and chief strategist of his campaign.
Months later, Trump fired Manafort after learning his
chairman received more than $12 million in undisclosed payments from former
Ukrainian president Victor F. Yanukovych, who he spent years working for as a
political consultant.
The case advanced amid claims Russian President Vladimir
Putin colluded with Trump campaign officials to rig the 2016 presidential
election against Hillary Clinton.
Mueller was appointed by the Justice Department in May to
lead the investigation into Trump campaign officials’ relationships with
Russian operatives. But the focus now actually may be turning to the Democrats.
President Trump contends the “real Russia story” is the sale
of 20 percent of U.S. uranium assets to a Russian company under Clinton’s
watch.
Critics also have pointed to Mueller’s relationship with
fired FBI chief James Comey and the fact that he stacked his team of
investigators with lawyers who had openly supported Hillary Clinton in the
election. The Mail reported it was unclear if Mueller still has a strategy to
“squeeze” Manafort” for information about the 2016 election “and Russian’s
possible interference with it.”
The allegations concern actions that all predate the Trump
campaign, and Trump’s name doesn’t appear in the 31-page indictment by Mueller,
who in the document makes no allegations of collusion with Russia.
The case has been assigned to Judge Amy Jackson, an Obama
appointee.
++++++
READ ALSO:
NO CHARGES OF TRUMP COLLUSION: Here's What
You Need To Know About The Manafort Indictment; By BEN SHAPIRO; Daily Wire; 10/30/17
__________________
Mueller Indictments- Manafort, Gates & Papadopoulos
John R. Houk
© October 31, 2017
_______________
Paul Manafort Surrenders to Feds as Subject of First Indictment In
Mueller’s Russia Probe
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___________________
MANAFORT INDICTED, CAMPAIGN VOLUNTEER PLEADS GUILTY IN RUSSIA PROBE
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