Of campaign finance law violations and plot! “Tuesday was one of the darkest days of Trump’s year and a half in office.”  That’s a quote from a Politico article describing the beating Trump’s presidency took today from Paul Manafort’s and Michael Cohen’s respective guilty verdict and plea.

Manafort has been convicted on 8 counts of tax fraud, bank fraud, and hiding foreign bank accounts. This is exciting news, but has been largely overshadowed by the accusations which accompanied the guilty plea of Michael Cohen, which came only hours before. When Cohen stepped into the New York federal district courtroom to plead guilty to breaking campaign finance laws, he also admitted that the payments he made to the adult film stars were issued at the bequest of President Donald Trump.

If this it true, it is groundbreaking news. Though Trump has brushed it off, stating that it has “nothing to do with Russian collusion,” it still (shockingly) warrants consideration. First off all, the payments very well may have something to do with Russian collusion. The money used to pay Stormy Daniels (one of the actresses) could have come from Russian officials (a full post about that subject can be found here). Additionally, regardless of whether the payments were related to collusion, Trump could still be considered a conspirator to Cohen’s crimes. This is almost certain to result in an article of impeachment, and perhaps someday indictment. And lastly, the simultaneous plea and verdict are bound to light a fire under Mueller’s investigation as each conviction adds to its credibility. If there is treason and plot, Mueller will find it.

ABC News