By David Futrelle
Three, three indictments in one! Three former Trump campaign officials are in the hot seat today. Former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort is the big name on the list (along with his pal Rick Gates), for such fun things as conspiracy against the U.S. and money laundering. But even more intriguing is the GUILTY PLEA of relatively unknown Trump foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos, whom Mueller has presumably flipped, who seems to have been doing some active COLLUDING WITH THE RUSSIANS.
So here’s an open thread to discuss the news and any other indictment fun that transpires today.
NOTE: Sorry to have gone missing for so long. I’m still dealing with a combo of health issues that have made it very difficult to work. Thanks again for your patience and support.
Seth Abrahamson has been explaining the action as it has unfolded for eight months or so.
Here is his latest, unrolled for those who avoid Twitter:
Oops, I needed to have other text for the link. https://tttthreads.com/thread/924988111880417280
I need popcorn, Jon Stewart and my friends in the Mammothsphere to keep me up to speed on this. Thank you so much David for posting: hope the health comes back to you soon.
And generally – YAY!!!
Is Trump tweeting?
Oh – of course he is!
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2017/10/heres-trumps-first-reaction-to-manafort-and-gates-indictments/
What I gather from this is that Manafort hasn’t flipped yet, right? What are the chances he’ll do so and incriminate Trump, against the chances he’s going to stand his ground to prevent Trump from taking the fall?
@Diego Duarte, Manafort doesn’t care about Trump. He cares about money. He may be afraid, at this point, because Russia is not nice. But if it means a year less in prison for himself, he’ll flip.
The problem I would have with him is that he has lied so often already, everything he says is going to need to be verified anyway.
Manafort is a poor choice for sacrificial pig, but he’s what they have…. The important thing is to deflect from the dumpster as much as possible, until it becomes clear that he’s in the gunsight… then they’ll quit him like fleas off of Nixon’s back.
I declare today an international holiday.
Well, it seems that the right wing hivemind has decided to go with the “but Hillary!” strategy. The Putinbot trolls and the homegrown Trumpkins are already all over comment sections and twitter with this. All parroting Big Orange himself.
It’s kind of hilarious because of how desperate and pathetic it is. It’s also troubling that a significant portion of the country is so indoctrinated into right wing propaganda that there is nothing, no amount of evidence of corruption that they can’t talk themselves into believing that it’s a big conspiracy.
Looks like Mueller is really spreading out, no matter where things lead:
Tony Podesta stepping down from lobbying giant amid Mueller probe
That is the Democrat Tony Podesta, brother of Hillary’s campaign chairman. How deep is this fucking hole?!
They’re all fucking thieves and scum.
Edit, sorry WWTH – didn’t see your comment 🙁
One! Two! Three! Three indictments, ah ah ah!
Papadopulous wasn’t indicted today. He pled guilty to lying to the FBI earlier this month and it was unsealed today. No trial.
Manafort and Gates both pled not guilty and bail is set for 10 million and 5 million, respectively.
Get better soon, David.
Glad to see you’re still with us, David. Do take care of yourself; we appreciate all you do here.
Gates was represented by a public defender. This *probably* means that all of his liquid assets are frozen until their provenance can be determined – as the PressSec was adamant about pointing out today, he was not paid by the Trump campaign. So who paid him?
If it turns out to be Russian operatives, as it very well might, those assets cannot be used for his defense. More reason for him to flip if he hasn’t already.
As I saw on Twitter, the WH response can be summed up as “diversionary fuckery.”
I’m going to be happy if justice is indeed done, but I’m also sad. This shouldn’t have happened. The people currently in power shouldn’t love their bank accounts more than they love this country.
ETA: And of course, Fox is going after Judge Deborah A. Robinson, a black woman, who is overseeing the Manafort case.
http://www.dcd.uscourts.gov/content/magistrate-judge-deborah-robinson
“And Deborah sat and judged Israel,” as my late father would quote.
@Victorious Parasol: I completely agree, but it’s worth bearing in mind that we have some sort of major scandal every generation, on average.
Before this (if you don’t count, for example, the 2000 election as having been stolen): Iran-Contra. Clinton’s impeachment. Watergate. Bay of Pigs. Teapot Dome. Count back from there. Scandal and political corruption are not new.
What I HOPE will come of this, and hopefully after the 2018 elections flip both houses of Congress, is some meaningful campaign finance reform and disclosure requirements for candidates.
@Iseult – Agreed! I’m old enough to remember Watergate, and I’ve read American history. I’m just disappointed that we keep getting these greedy bastards – and not just in government. We could add business scandals to the list. *cough* Enron *cough*
Thank you, David. Hope you’re feeling better soon.
@weirdwoodtreehugger
Oh I’ve seen it as well, and it cannot be dismissed. They started digging up everything they can on Muller and even going so far as saying his raid of Manafort’s home was more akin to a drug raid and not according to due process; and thus he should step down.
They’ve really cranked up that propaganda machine. We should all be extremely wary of this because the truth doesn’t matter to them. Reality will be whatever they decide it to be and whatever suits their interests the most. Should Trump be impeached I expect there to be acts of terrorism coming from the Alt-Right.
I am seriously shocked. I never thought it would come to this. This is so much better than I expected.
?????? HAPPY INDICTMAS EVERYONE! ??????
/ ques “Another One Bites the Dust” in anticipation of new things
Indict them!
Indict them!
Indict them!
@ wwth
This is a mindset that can dismiss the evidence of 10,000 climate scientists, who have done 10,000 experiments, each having been repeated 10,000 times. The hivemind instead believes that the scientists are all being bribed by the Illuminati….
They will believe a conspiracy fantasy about a school shooting being a faked “movie set”, requiring the cooperation of literally hundreds of people, each maintaining their silence… rather than accept that someone with a rifle shot up a grade school.
They desperately want to believe the world is Orwell’s “1984” come to life, and they are Winston Smith…. No conspiracy fantasy is too fantastic, no matter how much it sounds like a five-year-old lying to their parents about how the front room window got broken….
Man, just saw this article linked on Digby’s blog: https://www.buzzfeed.com/nidhiprakash/puerto-rico-natural-causes?utm_term=.gaOPajXy7#.xddGx7ZVo
We all knew this was the case, but wow that’s a big number.
Anyone who studies a problem is an elitist intellectual who cannot be trusted. This leaves the conspiracy fantastists refusing to believe anyone who knows what they are talking about… why??? Because they know what they are talking about!!!
E.T.A. @ Oogly… that anime if the person jumping onto the table knees-first… that’s gotta HURT!!!
So, the indictments handed down over the weekend don’t include Papadoupolous, who was charged on October 5 and may have been cooperating for three months before – probably wearing a wire, based on his status as a “proactive cooperator”.
Let it never be said Mueller has no long game.