The Russia Investigations and other Trump-related cases

[Frelga]

The New York Times report that Gates is supposed to plead guilty today. I don't know how I feel about the reporting the news before it happens.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Sometimes when they report it before it happens it actually does happen. But not always.

But I think this one is probably true. Although how it plays out remains to be seen, particularly since the new set of charges were filed in a different jurisdiction (Virginia) than the first set (D.C.).

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Gates is pleading guilty to two charges, conspiracy to defraud the U.S., and making false statements. Apparently the confusion over his representation stemmed from some friends of his trying to change his mind and find defense attorneys that would work for him inexpensively. It is not clear what he has agreed to do in exchange for the reduced charges, but presumably it is to testify against Manafort.

The full plea document can be read at: https://www.cnn.com/2018/02/23/politics ... index.html

[Voronwë the Faithful]

And now we have news that there is a yet a different indictment of Manafort that was unsealed today, this one alleging that he made secret payments to various senior European politicians to get them to take favorable positions on the pro-Russian Ukrainian government that Manafort worked for.

http://thehill.com/policy/national-secu ... o-european

[Frelga]

Manafort: I had hoped Gates would have the "strength" not to plead guilty in Mueller probe https://t.co/SLUuYDZp6Z https://t.co/KCP4ef3T7G

Mine is an evil laugh.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

The "false statement" that Gates is pleading guilty to making was actually made during the plea deal negotiations, earlier this month.

https://www.google.com/amp/thehill.com/ ... deal%3famp

Sent from my LG G6 using Tapatalk

[Frelga]

The commentary I've seen implies that it's a particularly stupid life choice?

[Voronwë the Faithful]

What, lying to the prosecutor during plea negotiations? Not very bright.

[Sunsilver]

And now, to interject a bit of humour into this thread, one of my cousins posted this on FB this morning:



Sorry, we now return you to our regular programming...

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Its not true! Moose and Squirrel are actually guarding our house!

[River]

Nice.

The "false statement" that Gates is pleading guilty to making was actually made during the plea deal negotiations, earlier this month.

https://www.google.com/amp/thehill.com/ ... deal%3famp

So Gates is pleading guilty and hoping for a reduced sentence by flipping but if he's already proven willing and able to do crap like that ^^ why should the prosecution trust any evidence he turns over?

[Voronwë the Faithful]

That's a good question, River. My speculation is that the original plea deal being discussed was that Gates would plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to defraud the U.S., and that when he was caught out in the lie the prosecutors insisted on adding the second count of making false statements. If that is true, that should provide some motivation not to do so again.

[Frelga]

Moose and squirrel sounds about right. Check this out.

Manafort Left an Incriminating Paper Trail Because He Couldn’t Figure Out How to Convert PDFs to Word Files

So here’s the essence of what went wrong for Manafort and Gates, according to Mueller’s investigation: Manafort allegedly wanted to falsify his company’s income, but he couldn’t figure out how to edit the PDF. He therefore had Gates turn it into a Microsoft Word document for him, which led the two to bounce the documents back-and-forth over email. As attorney and blogger Susan Simpson notes on Twitter, Manafort’s inability to complete a basic task on his own seems to have effectively “created an incriminating paper trail.”

The article at the link has a direct quote from the indictment.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

I saw that last night and meant to post it. Amusing, in sad sort of way.

[Sunsilver]

[SMH] Honestly, some of this belongs in the Whiskey Tango Foxtrot thread!!

[Voronwë the Faithful]

The Schiff memo has been released.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics ... spartanntp


ETA: You can read the memo at: https://www.cnn.com/2018/02/24/politics ... index.html

[Frelga]

[SMH] Honestly, some of this belongs in the Whiskey Tango Foxtrot thread!!

These days, what doesn't?

Case in point.

In Russia probes, Republicans draw red line at Trump's finances

The commentary from Seth Abramson in the Twitter thread starting here.
https://twitter.com/SethAbramson/status ... 5901185026

This is why I tweeted earlier about the clear direction of the Mueller probe being Trump-Russia coordination via money laundering: so that when you read the story below, you see that GOP obstruction on Trump's finances is legalized Obstruction of Justice.

[RoseMorninStar]

Sunsilver: Moose & squirrel

Voronwë the Faithful: (a bit off topic) What is that pine cone thing next to moose & squirrel?

I've had the personal misfortune to come at cross purposes with narcissists before. I don't know how they do it, but they consistently get away with things that would not be possible for normal human beings. It never ends well. Having read a bit about cult leaders, they are of the same cloth. Trump reminds me of L. Ron Hubbard. I do not understand how the bizarre behavior and lies are not red flags to those that fall into their snare. I have placed (perhaps too much) hope in the Trumptanic hitting the Muellerburg.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Rose, that is Squirrell's bushy tail! (Actually it is a cone from a Coulter Pine, also known as a Big-cone Pine)

Sent from my LG G6 using Tapatalk

[RoseMorninStar]

Rose, that is Squirrell's bushy tail! (Actually it is a cone from a Coulter Pine, also known as a Big-cone Pine)

HOLY COW! Or maybe HOLY SQUIRREL! How big is that???!!! It looks HUGE.