Trump Campaign Manager Paul Manafort Charged with "Conspiracy Against United States" - Polidicks

Fox News is handling it well [url]https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/10/30/16570198/trump-manafort-indictment-fox-news[/url] [QUOTE]apparently, Fox News, which spent the morning going back and forth from the indictment news, which broke before Fox & Friends’ third and final hour, to stories about … cheeseburger emojis. This continued through Fox & Friends’ final scheduled minutes for the day, when the hosts of the show focused on an apparently controversial Newsweek op-ed that asked if all “conservative loudmouths” are Irish-American.[/QUOTE] [IMG]https://i.imgur.com/zWxOxew.jpg[/IMG]

[QUOTE=Big Dumb American;52836909]I read every word of the document, and the picture it paints is hard to mistake as anything else. Manafort was an unregistered agent of corrupt Russian political branches in Ukraine, who has been laundering money from those groups and lobbying for their interests for years. Look at that bombshell in context with his role in Trump's campaign, and the accusations levied against the campaign start carrying a [B]lot[/B] of weight.[/QUOTE] Who said I was talking to you. It's no doubt that most people probably won't even look at the paper and just run around saying whatever. In a few hours we're gonna end up with two sides believing what others told them to think. One side will say it's nothing super duper serious, the other will say it implicates Trump beyond reasonable doubt. Starting page 7 and beyond is particularly juicy. [img]https://puu.sh/yaHOK/b57f1eaab8.png[/img]

[media]https://twitter.com/SenSanders/status/925014333494571008[/media]

[QUOTE=Bob The Knob;52836924]Papadopoulos' indictment says he was arrested in July, flipped and has been giving the FBI information since then[/QUOTE] I'm sure he's not the only one to flip

You’re missing the point, Jordax. This isn’t just about proving a link between Manafort and Trump, it’s about bringing in someone who has intimate knowledge of the Trump campaign and who can potentially flip on Trump. The question isn’t merely whether Trump sanctioned/“knew about” Manafort, it’s also about what shady secrets Manafort knows about Trump - and whether he’s willing to give up information to save his own skin.

[QUOTE=plunger435;52836926]We've known about Manafort's involvement with pro-Russian factions in Ukraine for over a year now, this just probes deeper with a focus on his tax evasion and bribes.[/QUOTE] That's what I was pointing at at the point I was making with the involvement of other lobbying firms with The European Centre for Modern Europe. There are lobbying firms in Washington DC who were in on that, and two of them were in on it with Manafort's money laundering scheme, and got apparently paid extra by Manafort. The question is, which firms were involved in it. This point can end up getting the investigation going in another direction, given how some of those Washington DC lobbying firms at the time, had direct links to the White House then. Some of those companies are falling exactly in the time frame given by the indictment note too in terms of how long they were involved.

[QUOTE=Wii60;52836934]Fox News is handling it well[/QUOTE] I mean clearly the cheese goes on top of the meat so that it'll melt into it... come on guys.

"Conspiracy against the United States" sounds like the kind of thing you'd end up in Guantanamo for

[QUOTE=Laserbeams;52836954]"Conspiracy against the United States" sounds like the kind of thing you'd end up in Guantanamo for[/QUOTE] I would assume stuff like that would be death by fire squad Problem is stuff like that hasn’t happened in a long time so

[QUOTE=Wii60;52836958]I would assume stuff like that would be death by fire squad[/QUOTE] Put it on pay per view

[QUOTE=OvB;52836950]I mean clearly the cheese goes on top of the meat so that it'll melt into it... come on guys.[/QUOTE] If I get a burger where the cheese is below the meat, I will eat it upside down.

[QUOTE=Mister Sandman;52836570][QUOTE=Bob The Knob;52836558]I'm not sure whether Trump is going to throw Manafort under the bus and say he never trusted the guy, thereby implicitly acknowledging that the charges are legit, or just slam the whole thing as a fake news Democratic conspiracy[/QUOTE] Panic followed by both?[/QUOTE] [QUOTE=OvB;52836837][media]https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/925005659569041409[/media] Sooo, throwing under the bus or not yet? [media]https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/925006418989715456[/media][/QUOTE] So does this count as calling it? Anyway holy shit those charges. I was just chilling and nodding off watching a fuckin' Patton Oswalt special and then I check my phone and I see this, and instead of like I would have predicted glee or giddiness or fear or excitement, I'm just sitting here like "Oh shit lmao" same for the charges, that's really gonna be my motif for the day

Worth noting that Trump is meeting with Sessions for lunch today. Things could move quickly from "confirmed fire" to "blazing inferno" today if the purpose of that meeting is Trump telling Sessions to resign.

What we know related to Manafort and Gates' connection with Russia: -Manafort and Gates lobbied on behalf of the pro-Russian Government of Ukraine and Party of Regions in the United States without registering as a lobbyist with the Justice Department -Manafort and Gates solicited to DC law firms to lobby on behalf of these entitites -These law firms lobbied multiple members of congress about the Ukraine sanctions, the validity of Ukraine elections, and the propriety of Yankunovych's imprisoning of his presidential rival, Yulia Tymoshenko (who had served as Ukraine's prime minister prior to Yankunovych)

[QUOTE=Smug Bastard;52836966]the propriety of Yankunovych's imprisoning of his presidential rival, Yulia Tymoshenko (who had served as Ukraine's president prior to Yankunovych)[/QUOTE] She was Prime Minister, not President

[QUOTE=Laserbeams;52836972]She was Prime Minister, not President[/QUOTE] Fixed

Enjoy the fall, Mr. Trump

[QUOTE=Wii60;52836958]I would assume stuff like that would be death by fire squad Problem is stuff like that hasn’t happened in a long time so[/QUOTE] I woundn't really want him to go to gitmo or get shot by firing squad, but boy do I want to see him eat shit and bring the whole Trump team with him

[QUOTE=Wii60;52836958]I would assume stuff like that would be death by fire squad Problem is stuff like that hasn’t happened in a long time so[/QUOTE] Except it's not entirely [I]that[/I] serious of a charge, when looking at it relatively. Conspiracy to Defraud the United States carries a maximum prison sentence (which we all know Manafort will never receive) of 5 years in prison. For perspective, the maximum federal punishment for tax evasion is 5 years, involuntary manslaughter is 8 years, first degree murder is death, and treason is death. Conspiracy to defraud the United States, while certainly a scary charge with lots of implications, is nothing more than a hefty tax evasion slap.

[QUOTE=Jordax;52836916]The indictment note is saying that Manafort and Gates concealed their role in Ukranian lobbying for years beforehand towards everyone that wasn't involved in their scheme with those two Washington DC firms. Even the Department of Justice and the Department of Treasury, did not know about Manafort's scheme at the moment Manafort was hired to wrangle the delegates around the period of the 2016 RNC in July. Furthermore, looking into the indictment note itself, there isn't any proof that Trump would have known about this at the moment Manafort was hired, in March 2016. Trump wouldn't get any security briefings until August 2016. Unless you have proof that Trump knew of this vast scheme where not even the Department of Justice or the Department of Treasury knew of at the moment of Manafort's hiring, and that he got hired for connections to Yanukovych, instead of his reputation of having been crucial of getting delegates for the RNC in earlier American presidential campaigns.[/QUOTE] Didn't manafort offer Trump Jr a buncha information from the Russians in June? Also his relationship's were exactly secret. [URL="https://www.politico.com/story/2014/03/paul-manafort-ukraine-104263"]Here's an article from 2014 discussing Manafort's relationship with yanuk (it celebrates him as some sorta savvy operator/agent)[/URL] [URL="https://qz.com/650201/donald-trump-hired-an-advisor-to-ukraines-notorious-former-president-putin-buddy-viktor-yanukovych/"]And then a story from march (a lil late but if a shit tier website knows about it then you damn well know trump's team had the ability to know about it)[/URL] and this is linked to a [URL="http://freebeacon.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/manafort-complaint-2.pdf"]2016 march lawsuit accusing manafort of lobbying [/URL] So none of this directly proves he lobbied directly for Russia but consider the facts: A) it's known hes a lobbyist in the US B) it's known that he's paid by Yanuk's people [sp]C) its known by us now that Trump changed his policy regarding Ukraine/Russia after hiring Manafort[/sp] So is trump ignorant to the point of incompetence or did he know, in either case he certainly knew pretty soon after Manafort became the campaign manager in June when Manafort said "oh btw dya want some stuff from the Russians?". He didn't need security briefings to know the guys a crook

[QUOTE=lope;52837007]Except it's not entirely [I]that[/I] serious of a charge, when looking at it relatively. Conspiracy to Defraud the United States carries a maximum prison sentence (which we all know Manafort will never receive) of 5 years in prison. For perspective, the maximum federal punishment for tax evasion is 5 years, involuntary manslaughter is 8 years, first degree murder is death, and treason is death. Conspiracy to defraud the United States, while certainly a scary charge with lots of implications, is nothing more than a hefty tax evasion slap.[/QUOTE] Keeping in mind that Conspiracy Against the United States is only one of [I]twelve[/I] charges. Manafort will likely spend the rest of his life in prison, unless he strikes a deal.

So if Donald Trump and his team get kicked out of power, who the hell runs the country? Like according to US law?

[QUOTE=wallyroberto_2;52837021]So if Donald Trump and his team get kicked out of power, who the hell runs the country? Like according to US law?[/QUOTE] Jeb!

:snip:

[QUOTE=Judas;52837024]the donald speaks! [media]https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/925005659569041409[/media] [media]https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/925006418989715456[/media][/QUOTE] a bit late on that mate

[QUOTE=Instant Mix;52837025]a bit late on that mate[/QUOTE] fuck I skipped page 2 when i read the thread again :v:

[QUOTE=wallyroberto_2;52837021]So if Donald Trump and his team get kicked out of power, who the hell runs the country? Like according to US law?[/QUOTE] [URL="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_line_of_succession"]Depends on how deep it goes, but here's a list[/URL]

[QUOTE=wallyroberto_2;52837021]So if Donald Trump and his team get kicked out of power, who the hell runs the country? Like according to US law?[/QUOTE] Here is how Bernie can still win! Jokes aside...when can we expect more indictments?

[QUOTE=Big Dumb American;52837013]Keeping in mind that Conspiracy Against the United States is only one of [I]twelve[/I] charges. Manafort will likely spend the rest of his life in prison, unless he strikes a deal.[/QUOTE] aaand here we come to the importance of all this. Whether or not you can directly link other people to this specific case or not isn't whats really important, if you can get Manafort to spill beans in exchange for a lighter sentence. Right now the charges seem pretty bad for him, regardless of whether or not there is a broader conspiracy here. Now it's a matter of getting him in an interrogation room and squeezing him like a lemon of information.

[QUOTE=Retinazer;52837035]Here is how Bernie can still win! Jokes aside...when can we expect more indictments?[/QUOTE] Impossible to say. If Manafort and Gates flip on other figures within Trump's inner circle, or even on Trump himself, it may still take months (years, even) to build up strong enough cases against them to pursue charges. Testimony is powerful, but you need hard evidence too.