The NY Times and CNN lead the leaked word this past weekend that Special Counsel Robert Muller’s investigation was about to result in some grand jury indictments. Those targeted had ties with both Russia and the Trump campaign.
But as several legal scholars – such a Democrat Alan Dershowitz have previously noted – what’s known at present doesn’t seem to indicate any illegalities tied to the president or his family.
The Latest
This morning, numerous sources are reporting that Paul Manafort and an associate of his named Rick Gates were being given the opportunity to surrender themselves to federal authorities.
“It is unclear exactly what the charges are,” reports Fox News this morning, noting that Mueller’s office would not respond to a request for comments.
Illegal Leaks?
Depending on how the leaks occurred, one ironic possibility is that the leaker, if it was connected to Mueller or his staff, could be guilty of breaking the law themselves. The first video explains those details.
Timing
The timing of these indictments and arrests are noteworthy, as Fox and other conservative media have been reporting for several days that the so-called Russian/Trump dossier looks to be largely falsified information. That allegedly faked dossier was paid for in part by Democrats, but was originally launched by a conservative news site, the Washington Free Beacon.
Manafort and Russia
There are well known ties between Manafort, who lobbied for Russians and others, but those connections pre-date the Trump campaign.
“Deripaska, 49, is a close Putin ally and signed a $10 million annual contract with Manafort in 2006. They maintained a business relationship until at least 2009, the Associated Press reported,” per Fox.
The New York Times indicated they obtained financial records on Manafort being in debt to pro-Russian interests by up to $17 million prior to joining Trump’s campaign.
But as the Daily Business News reported several months ago, Democratic attorney Alan Dershowitz and others have said that none of that would be legally problematic for now President Trump and his family.
“According to Shattered, a well-sourced book about the Clinton campaign written by sympathetic reporters, Clinton settled on a Russia excuse within twenty-four hours of her concession speech. [Campaign manager Robby] Mook and Podesta assembled her communications team at the Brooklyn headquarters to engineer the case that the election wasn’t entirely on the up-and-up,” said Molly Hemingway, senior editor for The Federalist.
Update
As this story is going to press, markets are mixed. Given the fact that the economic growth, consumer, and business confidence are now clearly tied to the Trump economic agenda, this will be a story that MHProNews will monitor. ## (News, analysis, commentary.)
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