THREAD: Worth revisiting today, in light of Manafort's plea, the stunning tally of crimes Mueller has uncovered and prosecuted in what is, still, a very quick and fast-moving federal investigation: ...
Together, they paint a picture of the "America First" campaign being anything but, of a campaign staffed with liars, crooks, and grifters ...
1) Trump's campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, has both been found guilty at trial and pleaded guilty to charges that include money laundering, conspiracy against the United States, and that he was working as an unregistered foreign agent for pro-Putin Ukrainians. ...
2) Trump's campaign lawyer and deputy RNC finance chair, Michael Cohen, has pleaded guilty to EIGHT charges, including campaign finance charges, tax fraud, and bank fraud. ...
3) Trump's national security advisor, Michael Flynn, has pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI, charges that include how he was working as an unregistered foreign agent for the Turkish government during the campaign. ...
4) Trump campaign aide and Trump's deputy inaugural chairman, Rick Gates, has ALSO pleaded guilty to conspiracy against the United States. ...
5) Trump campaign aide George Papadopoulos has pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI and stonewalling its investigation into his contacts with Russian nationals during the campaign. ...
6) Another Gates protege, Samuel Patten, has also pleaded guilty to being an unregistered foreign agent, helping to funnel illegal foreign money to Trump's inaugural campaign. ...
That's an incredible tally for a federal investigation. ....
These are *just* the people who have pleaded guilty and been found guilty at trial. None of this counts the other people/groups that have been CHARGED by Mueller, like the Internet Research and the Russian military intelligence service GRU. ...
And it still seems like Mueller is only getting started. So where does Mueller go next? I laid out some of the outstanding questions: wired.com/story/what-rob…
There are still very significant parts of the Mueller investigation where we've seen no public movement, including Roger Stone, George Nader, Qatar, and meetings in the Seychelles. ....
And don't lose sight of the great reporting by @jasonleopold and @a_cormier_ on sketchy Russian money, including its possible links to that Trump Tower meeting: buzzfeednews.com/article/anthon…
(It goes without saying at this point, but hard to imagine that if the similar cast of characters from the Obama campaign or the Clinton campaign had been convicted or pleaded guilty, the GOP Congress might have held at least an oversight hearing or two.)
