Tag Archives: conspiracy to defraud

Manafort Lied about Dealings with Kilimnik

09 Wednesday Jan 2019

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Special Counsel Robert Mueller believes that Paul Manafort, former Trump campaign chairmen, shared polling data with Konstantin Kilimnik, a Ukranian translator and campaign adviser believed to have ties with Russian intelligence, and that he later lied about it. Apparently, Manafort’s lawyers have conceded that Manafort neglected certain details of his Ukrainian dealings, as they wrote in a court filing that “[i]t is not surprising at all that Mr. Manafort was unable to recall specific details prior to having his recollection refreshed.” The filing also notes that Manafort forgot  and later recalled that he had met with Kilimnik in Madrid in January or February of 2017, which was after Trump became President-elect, but also after Manafort’s tenure as campaign chairmen. Manafort and Kilimnik have previously been accused of witness tampering, for allegedly reaching out to members of the Hapsburg group, and asking them to lie about secret, pro-Ukrainian lobbying done at Manafort’s behest.

If it is to be believed that Kilimnik does have ties to Russian intelligence, then this information establishes, at least, a Russian interest in President Trump’s candidacy. Of course, that is not new information. At most, it could go to establishing communication between Trump and Russia post-election. That being said, it is only circumstantial evidence. The fact that foreign powers are interested in Trump’s nomination and presidency, does not mean he cooperated with foreign powers, and the fact that Manafort cooperated with foreign powers, does not mean that Trump participated. Still, this another straw on the camel’s back.

gettyimages-975251610_wide-a5b8c154718a06791ada3f9447c359251dd114b5.jpgAFP/Getty Images

 

The Moscow Project Looms

29 Thursday Nov 2018

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Michael Cohen, President Trump’s former lawyer, pleaded guilty earlier today to a charge of “false statements,” for lying to Congress about the extent of his and President Trump’s involvement in plan to build a “Trump Tower” in Moscow, Russia. Cohen falsely represented, in a letter sent to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and House of Representatives Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, that 1) “The ‘Moscow Project’ ended in January 2016 and was not discussed extensively with others in the Company;” 2) “Cohen never agreed to travel to Russia in connection with the Moscow Project and ‘never considered’ asking [President Trump] to travel for the project;” and 3) “Cohen did not recall any Russian government response or contact about the Moscow Project.” In fact Cohen communicated with Felix Sater, a real estate developer with Russian ties, about the project; told Sater he would travel to Russia; addressed Trump about the possibility of Trump traveling to Russia; and communicated directly with Russian officials about the project.

Obviously this looks bad for Trump. The evidence of these ongoing communications with Russian agents strengthen the case for collusion/conspiracy to defraud in that it helps to establish, at least, that Trump’s confidant and fixer had strong ties to Russia while Trump was campaigning for office, and goes a long way towards establishing that Trump had such ties as well. While that doesn’t get us all the way to conspiracy to defraud, it certainly helps to bring us closer. One email written by Sater in November 2015 about the project may be damning. It read in part: “our boy can become President of the USA and we can engineer it.”

e201bbe0-4806-4aef-a7f0-0a873d9738b7-AP_Trump_Lawyer_Party_Switch.jpgMary Altaffer, AP

Stone and WikiLeaks

30 Tuesday Oct 2018

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Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigators are looking into comments Roger Stone, an adviser to President Trump and self-proclaimed “ultimate political insider,” made to those who called on his political insight. Stone said he knew of WikiLeak’s plans to release information which would affect the 2016 election, apparently referring to the Democratic National Convention emails which were hacked by Russian Intelligence Officials. Roger Stone also claimed to have a relationship with the founder of WikiLeaks, Julian Assange. The natural conclusion to be drawn here, is that a connection between Stone and WikiLeaks is a connection between Stone and Russia, which is ultimately a connection between Trump and Russia. Though Stone has yet to be indicted, he did admit in August that such a thing is possible. The possibility now is greater than it was then, and with Stone’s indictment may come a plea deal and cooperation.

roger_stone_ap_file.jpgANDREW HARNIK/ASSOCIATED PRESS/FILE

Losing a Two-Front War

16 Sunday Sep 2018

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This week has proven to be a difficult one for President Trump. As both civil and criminal investigations draw near and his tight spot becomes tighter, one can only begin to imagine his discomfort.

The world of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation has gotten a little brighter with the cooperation of Paul Manafort. Trump’s former Campaign chairman finally struck a plea deal last Friday and pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud the United States and obstruction of justice. Though Trump’s press secretary, Sarah Sanders, argues that the charges against Manafort have nothing to do with the President and could not incriminate him, Manafort apparently possesses information valuable enough for Mueller to agree to waive 5 of his 7 charges and argue leniency in his sentencing. Especially valuable is Manafort’s participation in the Russian lawyer meeting and any insight he may be able to give as to what happened there. Some theorize that Manafort’s cooperation promises the end of Mueller’s investigation.

On top of Mueller’s progress, Trump faces discovery requests pursuant to a civil suit in the U.S. District Court of Maryland. The suit alleges that Trump violated the Domestic and Foreign Emoluments Clauses of the United States Constitution through operation of the Trump International Hotel near the White House. Pursuant to those allegations, the plaintiffs, D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine and Maryland Attorney General Peter Frosh, are seeking communications between Trump and foreign and U.S. state government officials related to use of the hotel, records of the hotel’s business with foreign officials, records of cash transferred from the trust which collects the hotel’s funds to Trump, and documents from the General Services Administration and the U.S. Treasury Department which lease the hotel building to Trump.

The likely result of these two investigations is that allegations of impeachable offenses committed by Trump, conspiracy to defraud the American people, obstruction of justice, and violation of the emoluments clauses, will soon either be substantiated or refutable. And with midterm elections looming, this information could not have come at a better time. Soon there will be a Congress that can transform all of this discovery into articles of impeachment.

GettyImages-578331186-trump-manafort-2016-1120.jpgBill Clark, CQ Roll Call, Getty Images