President Donald Trump’s affinity for Russian President Vladimir Putin, the entanglements of Trump’s former campaign manager Paul Manafort and his former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn with Russia raises huge questions and red flags. There are way too many questions to ask, way too many hints of wrongdoing, way too many circumstances of President Donald Trump’s associates nefariously colluding with the Russian government, for the most obvious reason: to put Donald Trump in the White House.
Paul Manafort and Michael Flynn are the leading focus of the special prosecutor’s office into whether Trump’s associates coordinated with the Russians to interfere in the 2016 campaign on his behalf.
All of it increasingly points to Trump’s direct knowledge of Manafort’s and Flynn’s involvement. It could have even been at Trump’s direction to diminish Hillary Clinton’s chance of becoming the next President of the United States.
The latest report suggests that special prosecutor Mueller’s legal team is getting to the heart of Trump’s Russia problem.
Robert Reich summarizes the story:
Three big developments in the Mueller investigation. Paul Manafort and Michael Flynn appear to be in serious legal trouble:
1) Mueller's investigators have reportedly told Manafort to expect an indictment, according to the New York Times. The warning came after an early morning raid on his home over the summer, where documents and electronic files were seized.
2) A federal judge authorized the FBI to wiretap Manafort's communications with possible Russian operatives. The surveillance began before Manafort joined the Trump campaign while he was working for pro-Russian interests in Ukraine. Federal investigators again turned their focus on Manafort last summer when they began investigating possible collusion between the campaign and Russian agents to sway the election.
3) Former Trump National Security Advisor Michael Flynn has established a legal defense fund to cover his attorneys' fees. In recent months, Mueller has intensified his investigation into Flynn, requesting White House documents and questioning witnesses about his international consulting firm. Flynn's camp appears to be bracing for a long legal battle.
These revelations come as Mueller has reportedly obtained a search warrant for records of the fake Facebook accounts set up by Russian agents during the 2016 campaign. That probe could have implications for Jared Kushner.
Bottom-line: Trump can try to distract the public from the investigation by repealing DACA and banning transgender Americans from the military, but Mueller is only gaining steam.
By Andrew Prokop
