Note: Mueller's submission to the court last week detailed Manafort lying about a payment from the pro-Trump super-PAC referenced below.
It seemed like a weird call out because it was for only $125k and added little to the total corruption story at first blush.
However...
1/
It seemed like a weird call out because it was for only $125k and added little to the total corruption story at first blush.
However...
1/
As I've been saying ad infinitum, there are no accidental inclusions in Mueller filings. There are no unnecessary or unimportant details.
It's like an episode of Law & Order. If they zoom in on the paperweight on the desk, it's gonna factor in around minute forty-eight.
2/
It's like an episode of Law & Order. If they zoom in on the paperweight on the desk, it's gonna factor in around minute forty-eight.
2/
It would seem that Mueller is homing in on illegal shifting of money to-and-from Super PACs by the Trump Campaign.
If the campaign was using money held in PACs as campaign funds, every act is a campaign finance violation.
Manafort was not paid to work on the campaign.
3/
If the campaign was using money held in PACs as campaign funds, every act is a campaign finance violation.
Manafort was not paid to work on the campaign.
3/
If the campaign coordinated him being paid through a PAC instead, for example, that likely constitutes illegal coordination, an illegal campaign contributions, and a failure to report.
Ultimately, we seemed headed toward a debunking of the biggest myth of the Trump Campaign.
4/
Ultimately, we seemed headed toward a debunking of the biggest myth of the Trump Campaign.
4/
Trump endlessly bragged about having spent a tiny pittance of what Clinton did... He boasted that his personal prowess and social media chops were more powerful than her campaign spending.
It now appears his campaign illegally directed major spending through an opaque web.
5/
It now appears his campaign illegally directed major spending through an opaque web.
5/
If Mueller truly has the goods - and it's safe to assume he does - to prove:
1) The Trump Campaign directed contributions to parties like the NRA and this super PAC
2) It directed how that money was spent
3) It did both to evade the law
...A WHOLE LOT OF PEOPLE are doomed.
6/
1) The Trump Campaign directed contributions to parties like the NRA and this super PAC
2) It directed how that money was spent
3) It did both to evade the law
...A WHOLE LOT OF PEOPLE are doomed.
6/
If Mueller effectively proves that these groups essentially functioned as off-balance-sheet proxies for the campaign itself, that opens anyone engaged in that conspiracy to liability, it would seem.
It also subjects the donations those proxies accepted to greater scrutiny.
7/
It also subjects the donations those proxies accepted to greater scrutiny.
7/
Specifically, if Mueller can prove (and it's safe to bet he can) that the Trump Campaign knowingly directed foreign donations to 3rd party groups and then directed the use of that money, there are a whole lot of people who are going to face indictment on both sides.
8/
8/
Given that Mueller already knew Manafort was lying about a payment he received from a PAC, if I was on the money trail at the NRA, a PAC, a media agency or within the camp., I'd be lawyering up or calling Mueller to chat.
Their only salvation will be flipping on the bosses.
9/9
Their only salvation will be flipping on the bosses.
9/9
p.s. to put an even sharper point on this, it is illegal for a campaign to accept foreign money. If the Trump Campaign participated in funneling that money into 3rd parties which they directed, they just turned one felony into a whole array of felonies...
