Re: POTUS 45.22 - The Genius of Donald Trump
Ignoring the fact that Flaggy isn't grasping the width of this investigation, I got some questions for the more politically intuitive here:
PopohugeGreekname is pleading Guilty. Manafort and Gates are silent (as of this early breaking news. If they don't crack, and, as evidence has obviously shown, stay silent about who all was involved in their money laundering of Ukrainian cash, (and Popo admitting guilt is a big help) could there be enough connections to start tying closer Trump family members into the same money laundering scheme? Ie: Usay, Quday, and The Kush?
Also, I love me some RICO charges! Is this what the 20's and 30's felt like when they nabbed gangsters?
If I understand what the Feds accuse Manafort and Gates of doing is this:
Ukrainian government people wanted to lobby the U.S. government
Manafort agreed to do it, but didn't want to register as a lobbyist for them
He formed a bunch of shell companies here and abroad
The Ukrainians paid millions into those shell companies
Manafort arranged for two registered lobbying companies to serve as the on the record lobbyists
Manafort directed and controlled the lobbying efforts behind the scenes
The lobbyists were paid some money from the shell companies for their efforts and Manafort pocketed the rest
Manafort then had to launder his share of the money to make it usable to him here in the U.S. He did that by having the shell companies do a bunch of wire transfers to cover the cost of purchasing property and improving it. He then borrowed money against those properties to get the cash he needed.
The indictment lists all of the wire transactions that came from the shell companies to Manafort (or his home improvement people, etc...) It looks like only a couple of the wire transfers occurred in 2014, with the rest occurring between 2008 and 2013. That suggests that the Ukrainians must have paid Manafort's shell companies by at least those dates.
I wouldn't be surprised if Trump were engaged in some sort of money laundering deal with the Russians, but I'm not sure how he'd fit into the Manafort transactions. The way the feds lay it out, it seems a pretty straightforward plan by Manafort to lobby for the Ukrainians, behind the scenes, and then not report any of the income. I assume he didn't report the income because not only does he then avoid paying taxes, but he also doesn't get exposed as their unregistered lobbyist. If, on the other hand, there were a half dozen wire transfers in 2016, I'd say someone should cover the back door of the White House to make sure no one slips out.
