On Oct. 27, it was announced that Robert Mueller, who is responsible for investigating the Trump campaign’s collusion with Russia, would be handing down indictments as soon as Monday. On Oct. 30, Paul Manafort, who was the campaign chair for Trump, and Rick Gates, a business associate of Manafort, were both handed indictments on 12 counts. The indictments include money laundering, conspiracy against the United States, false statements, an unregistered agent of a foreign principal, false and misleading U.S. Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) statements, and seven counts of failure to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts.
Manafort turned himself in after the indictment and is expected to work with Mueller to avoid prison time in exchange for names of others. However, Mueller and Gates entered not guilty pleas. Manafort’s bail was set for $10 million, and Gates was set for $5 million. Both are expected to be under house arrest for the trail. Both men also were required to surrender their passports.
Manafort has already been tied to meetings with Russian officials, in the U.S. and Russia, along with Jared Kushner, Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump, and so on. The collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia has already been established, but these charges are showing a conspiracy against the U.S. In other words, these men are traitors.
Many more indictments are expected to be handed down. It was revealed Monday, George Papadopolous, Trump’s former foreign policy adviser, pleaded guilty to lying the FBI. The lie stems from Papadopolous having been asked about his Russian ties. He was essentially a puppet for the Russians. Among the following indictments is likely General Michael Flynn, who was fired as the National Security Advisor to Trump. Flynn said months ago he would testify and cooperate with the investigation in exchange for immunity. This was declined by Mueller, suggesting there is a lot of evidence against him. Flynn’s Russian collusion has already been established.
Over the weekend, Trump called for Mueller to be fired. Comey was already blocked from the Russia investigation. Trump retracted his call for Mueller to be fired, which would be an impeachable offense. He also criticized Attorney General Jeff Sessions for recusing himself from the Russia investigation. Sessions had been linked to Sergey Kislayak, the Russian Ambassador to the U.S. Trump’s sons and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson were also connected to Kislayak. Tillerson’s oil businesses were also linked to Russian Oligarchs and Vladimir Putin himself.
Trump has continued to deny, via Twitter, any collusion with the Russian government. The ties to Russia and Putin have been established. As is typically the case, the wheels of justice are turning slowly, though this indicates a thorough investigation on the part of Mueller. Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders continued to deflect the allegations. She said the connections were before Manafort, Gates, and Papadopolous worked on the Trump campaign. Despite his denial, it seems the house of cards of the Trump administration is beginning to topple, suggesting a possible impeachment of the President.
