Why do we have laws that are not enforced? I do not understand that part of this story. Who decides not to enforce a law, why, how? Maybe when some of the smoke clears someone will explain this.
6
l in the eyes of the law, our esteemed justice system, all are equal? With money, lawyers and connections there is almost no limit to what one can do, as an individual or corporation. One can observe justice in action in a traffic court, if the accused has not been shot and killed first. Why are former Senators allowed on the floor of the Senate except as a retirement plan? I dislike being so cynical, but our justice system is simply not what it is made out to be or what we like to think it is in our daydreams.
4
"Follow the Money" from "All the President's Men" has never been truer. There is some truth in the Bible when it is written that "the love of money is the root of all evil." Way past time to clean up Washington - like maybe "drain the swamp" - and rid ourselves of these lobbyists, and especially Congresspeople who easily slide from Representative/Senator to lobbyist. Corruption is rampant.
5
Franklin Foer's recent articles about the Manafort case in the Atlantic are indispensable reads for understanding just how bad things have become. These people who profit by taking money from powerbrokers all over the world should never have been allowed to operate in this way. It is completely immoral and has made corruption the #1 problem we face, worldwide.
Just another task when we finally get our democracy back.
11
Looks like the only one who's draining the swamp is Mueller. Bravo!
10
It’s obscene how Citizens United declared Unions to be people and allowed them to buy elections with their ill-gotten loot
3
I worry that this is the tip of an iceberg where our people sell influence to foreign states or persons with the results ending up in our tax codes, laws, appropriation bills, foreign aid programs and gets added to the national debt.
We have no idea what's going on in the backrooms around DC where our future is bought and sold like so many pork bellies.
Case in point many years ago was the AbScam scandal where one Senator and six Representatives were convicted of taking bribes in return for favors that allegedly went to Arab entities. Nothing has changed.
Just about everything is for sale in DC -- or your statehouses. Our elected types can, will and are selling us down the river to anyone with a pile of cash, no matter if that cash is foreign or domestic.
Let Mueller run with this, the findings will be a teachable moment.
6
Thank you, Robert Mueller & Co., for making a sincere effort to drain the swamp.
7
How does Podesta look in an orange jumpsuit?
4
Corruption is not only a Republican trait. Mueller is going to be discovering it is widespread and Democrats are guilty too. (Hopefully fewer and less galling.) This is the real draining of the swamp. Americans, we have to hold on to our hats.
7
I do hope that the efforts of Mueller and many others bear fruit. It's an old problem of course. That well-known saying: "We have the best government that money can buy" was coined way back by Mark Twain...
2
'All of the President's men' now seems to be reaching into the former President's cabinet, now that David Gregory has been ensnared as part of the Mueller probe. The question is, how deep will it go into the issue of illegally 'unmasking' the names of American citizens in order to leak information to the news media? Susan Rice and Susan Powers need to answer for it.
1
The only people draining the swamp are Robert Mueller and his team.
4
Michael Cohen also did not register as a lobbyist nor as a foreign agent when he was busy marketing his "intimate" knowledge and connection to Donald Trump and the Trump administration. His case is already handled by SDNY.
3
Will Trump call for these cases to be dropped since they arose from the Mueller investigation??
2
New York is very capable is handling these cases. The basis would be super credible of course.
2
Trump seems to have actually precipitated a giant investigation into what he called, ‘“The Swamp”. He did not expect that his own slimy ways would actually generate such an effort but they have.
4
The law carries stiff penalties, including up to five years in prison. But it had rarely been enforced, and thus widely ignored, until recently.
Well, if we can have zero tolerance in our schools, at our borders, and in minority neighborhoods, I think we just OUGHT to have zero tolerance for illegal activity among the elite.
11
I believe investigators should take a look at links between Manafort and Russian Television reported many months ago. It has bearing on the cooperation of American Television.
6
Good Job, Mr. Mueller!
The Con Don does not control federal prosecutors in New York.
These traitorous men and women will look great in prison orange.
Can't happen soon enough for me. They seem to love Guantanamo Bay - wonder how they will like being locked up there?
17
When government targets a person, and not the crime, it's a conspiracy, not collaboration. Political persecution triggers revolutions. Robert Mueller is missing the mark (sinning) bigly. Sinners never win in God's Court. Remind Mrs. Clinton.
Remind Barry Soetoro. Remind Eric Holder. Hanging guilty & convicted war criminals with American grown and made hemp rope will not let you down.
2
No one is being persecuted. These people all have high priced teams of lawyers. Protecting the American people from high crimes and misdemeanors is what the justice is supposed to do.
5
You will not win in God's court either for the same reason!
1
Lobbying is big business. Citizens United is all about obscene amounts of money being donated to PAC's aka hiring our elected officials to work for the wealthy.
Absolute money corrupts absolutely. There should be ceilings placed upon donations and big money should not be flowing in from foreign governments, none of them as they can buy U.S. policy, and most assuredly we should not be accepting hundreds of millions of dollars from Putin who is a known foreign enemy government.
32
association with viktor yanukovich produces a highly contagious and career-killing disease that infects even those not in direct contact with yanukovich himself, who now lives in russia under the protection of his patron vladimir putin . . .
6
Like other readers, I'm confused. Is this what Trump referred to as "the swamp," a fetid collection of grifters and influence peddlers, that, if elected, he was going to put out of business? Or is "the swamp" something else?
14
@Taz It sounded good to him when he said it and his audience applauded, so he kept saying it. He had no idea what it meant or how it would occur. His ghost writer for the art of the deal says he says things to get adulation and when it stops, he'll say something else, anything else.
1
following the law not partisan politics, the justice department's investigation progresses. nice timing...just after POTUS calls on Sessions to end the investigation.
it's hard to be patient and have confidence in our institutions these days, but for me anyway, this is a ray of hope.
23
In the banking business there is KYC, know your customer. These efforts by Mueller are a start but it's really time Congress did the same thing for lobbyists, and by the way every state house should do as well. Americans who fund the local, state and federal government have every right to know exactly who is lobbying our elected and non-elected officials, why, and where their source of funding comes from. Talk about your deep state.
42
For those who are protecting the current folks in the WH, they are missing the bigger picture, which is the FED that they want to make small is incapable or unwilling or doesn't have sufficient laws to find these folks early on. This should not be seen as a one-sided problem, or even a blame the other party, but a real problem in the US. The bigger question: will Congress ACT? I am doubtful.
5
In case anyone hasn't noticed yet, Mueller is the self anointed and weaponized avenging angel.
3
@Brewster Millions
You forget that the original Clinton investigation was about the white water land deal. he was impeached for lying about an affair.
1
Why even bother attempting to prosecute at this time given that our Congress recently removed the requirement that non-profits disclose the identities of their big donors? The Republic is a festering criminal conspiracy with or without Podesta, Manafort, et al
10
@Ann Ammerman Are you saying we should just give up?
1
So this is what the Mueller Special Counsel office has turned into: an alternate and superior FBI.
Mueller, former FBI chief, has been born again, or so he thinks, and is ramping up his office as an alternate FBI universe, straying far from his original authority, to investigate ("fish for") all sorts of matters and then, to hand them off to local fed prosecutors. A sort of new age prosecutorial feeder entity. With unlimited funds and a seemingly open ended investigatorial (fishing) life, Mueller has become a super unrestricted FBI, reporting to no one (Rosenstein doesn't count because he is a buddy, a liar and a weasel) not even to the Justice Department.
This, to Mueller, is the job of a lifetime and there's no way that he'll ever let go. A very sad and dangerous state of affairs
8
@Ross Stuart
Unfortunately, this particular case involves a large cast of characters, money flowing in all directions, and it is very complicated. If you actually read the terms of Mueller's appointment, he has broad powers if he uncovers potentially illegal activities. Some of those activities he is referring to other entities for them to pursue. He has other fish to fry more directly related to his charge. This is all totally legal.
25
When a trout jumps on your plate fully cooked and filleted it’s not fishing. These lobbyists are just mobsters in better suits. Keep up the good work Mueller.
10
@Mike Really? Did we need a "Special Guy" to investigate distantly tangential matters? What is wrong with having our very own FBI investigate? Are they not able? Are they unfit? Are they biased? No! And what about the Justice Department? Are they crippled? Are they hog tied and unwilling? No! So it does appear that Mueller has been substituted for our traditional crime activity agencies for no really good reason. In fact, there was never a really good reason to have a "Special Guy" appointed was there?
No, Mr. Rosenstein, a weasel at heart, did the wrong thing appointing a person rather than looking to the FBI or the Justice Department to do their respective traditional investigative work.
This is a boondoggle and a sham and it will be judged as much if it ever is disbanded and shut.
The rich do not go to prison except under special circumstances as long as they have the means to mount a defense. Those who do not have the means to mount a defense go to prison,death row,and are the low hanging fruit used to boost conviction rates. Except for Mueller shining a light on these roaches all of them and many of them still out of sight would still be operating with impunity to corrupt our government.
10
Trump is so terrified of Mueller's findings that he just tweeted A.G. Sessions to "... stop this Rigged Witch Hunt right now."
It looks like Trump is nearing the 'nuclear option'. I hope he fires everyone in sight and triggers a constitutional crisis: This may be the quickest and most painless way to get rid of him and his mobsters. At the very least it will energize the true 'silent majority' and reverse the GOP's monopoly on power come November.
36
It should come as no surprise that Democrats are swampy. This fact alone could be responsible for the situation we are in. If the Democrats had retained the values they profess, the people would have continued to support them and Trump would have never been elected, even with Russian help. Time to clean house in America--the entire house.
11
This is throwing out the baby with the bath water. You are mad at Democrats, perhaps deservedly, but you overlook our nation's Two-Party system. Take revenge on Democrats due to misdeeds by some and you end up iwth a Trump world. We have a binary choice. Vote Democrats and try to instill in them to hold onto their values or get your world upended and our planet destroyed by Trump and his Republicans now in power.
23
@Meighley A hypothesis that doesn't even start to hold water. If voters couldn't tell that Trump was the swampiest of creatures and still thought they were voting to "drain the swamp" they need their voter cards revoked;)
16
@Bj Free the dems, jail the reps. So democratic. So sad that you seek such a totalitarian system
1
The "company town" seems to have been rife with corruption long before POTUS arrived. The locals aren't opposed to graft and bribery, they just like it to be wielded with more class than the GOP is currently able to muster.
21
We need tight, enforceable rules for lobbyist jobs where, of course, it is the connection to government and power that provides the major bone fides for the job. The segue from government position to highly paid influencer is an old story, but far too easy. It also appears that lobbyists too often have more influence on laws than constituents, and with no transparency.
The process is one of those things that makes citizens feel the game is always rigged in favor of the powerful.
Manafort, became the center of this storm ONLY because he had the hubris to accept a too-public position with Trump: what that reveals is that those like him had absolutely no fear of being caught for violating any existing law. Which points to : better laws, a demand to transparency in government, and consistent enforcement
26
Agreed. However, the law and regulations derived from it are only effective when the political and economic will exist to enforce it. If people are willing to look the other way, and they don’t make budgets available for regulatory personnel, or don’t back their findings in cases where they are seen as inconvenient, the rule of law is just a phrase. As an example, at the highest level, the President recently usurped Congress’s tariff levying authority, and so far no effective action has stopped him. As a second example, the Treasury Secretary is publicly musing over doing an end run around Congress’s authority over taxation, to the tune of $100 billion plus. I don’t see any Congressional furor in the offing so far, at least not from the controlling party. To me, this is a frightening new phase for our nation, and makes me believe we need to rededicate ourselves to law and regulatory enforcement, not only for common criminals, but for the better paid levels of our society, both politicians, and former politicians/influence peddlers.
5
I like the idea of transparency in government, after all, it is OUR government. Why not have a full time staff of investigators (like Muellers) in every administration who's job is to root out crimes, corruption, and illegal activities by our elected officials? Those running for office or being offered appointments will know going in that their life will be under the microscope. This should be the price for being at the top echelons of running out country.
69
@Steve
If we make it so that you HAVE to have a clean Court record and Financial records and tax reports before you can take ANY Office, a LOT of the people now in office would have to resign.
And we would be a lot better off.
9
“The law carries stiff penalties, including up to five years in prison. But it had rarely been enforced, and thus widely ignored, until recently.” — How many federal laws can this be said about. There is not even an attempt to enforce most laws until it works for a politician. There is no effort to comport with the rule of law or procedural justice in the federal system. I wonder how many average citizens break federal laws on a regular basis without even knowing it? The thousands of statutes need to be reviewed, rethought, rewritten, and fairly enforced.
14
@Chris
Don't you understand that laws are only enforced upon the less financially-endowed members of our society?
Those that are written that might hinder the wealthy are usually done so only to promote a "position" that is beneficial to a re-election campaign - they were never meant to be enforced!
13
This story answers the question as to why someone who seeks riches would enter politics: personal monetary gain down the road.
Perhaps they’ve never really taken to heart the term ‘public servant’ as they seem to neglect both concepts.
25
Trump's election is resulting in cleaning of many swamps previously untouchable. First it was sex predators in movie industry, politics, academia, news room, etc. and now corrupt practices in foreign lobbying field. There are many lobbyists in Washington swamp, Democrats and Republicans, who are willing to sacrifice American interest for foreign dictatorships and multinationals. These are all side effects of witch-hunt of President Trump.
22
" There are many...willing to sacrifice American interest for foreign dictatorships and multinationals. These are all side effects of witch-hunt of President Trump."
And as the criminal justice system grinds along, the "main effect" of what you call the "witch-hunt of President Trump" will be to ensnarl Trump et al.
3
"The cases are unlikely to provoke an outburst from Mr. Trump similar to the one he unleashed in April after prosecutors raided the home and office of Michael D. Cohen.."
Why didn't prosecutors raid H Clinton's office and home?
6
@LMJrExactly!! Why isn't Podesta in jail? He'll get a fine. Ignored by media.
3
You’ve got the wrong Podesta. It’s Tony here, not John. This is pretty basic info. Tony is a Republican. Of course.
21
@Mark Thompson Because the Republican/Trump appointed council is in the pocket of the Democratic Deep State.. Duuuhhhhh!!
I thought lobbying was my right as a citizen to petition my government.
Now I understand that lobbying is grabbing money from any foreign or domestic entity and working in *their* interests no matter if it means selling out the common American taxpayer.
Lobbying, which our constitution permits, has been perverted into an abomination, where money buys treason in America.
57
@New World Which is exactly why in my country, the Netherlands, lobbying is a crime and political contributions in elections are forbidden.
When we have elections, all political parties get money allocated by the government and they have to account for every dime that is spend (and more importantly, where it came from).
Lobbying just means "Money talks".
46
@Rob
I certainly wish we could incorporate the Netherland's rules as reforms here: the corruption this brings is destroying our government.
@Rob --
That sounds so advanced. I'll bet you guys even have universal healthcare, affordable pharmaceuticals and a humane penal system that is not a rich and growing private industry.
Question: do you have room for one more?
1
One special counsel with a small staff is uncovering all these instances where members of the legal professions and government are acting as criminals for their own benefit and with a "wink and nod" (as must be occurring) from others of their self-defined class.
How many organizations and committees exist in our government whose sworn responsibilities are to perform, 24/7/365, the tasks that Mueller and his small staff have already uncovered in a year's time?
Much more important for the elected and appointed power players are self- and economic-class enrichment and continuing misdirections to direct popular attention and concern to areas that keep national awareness from their self-aggrandizement?
10
Craig began as a light-weight college politico lacking any perceptible hard skills save one: resume burnishing.
It is no surprise that he found his way into "lobbying", an occupation that, after journalism and politics, has always been the preferred choice of the ambitious, but lazy, second-rater.
Anyone who remembers how quickly his superficial role as a "counsel" to the impeached President Bill Clinton was quickly taken over by his more substantial Williams & Connolly colleague, David Kendall, knows that a plea deal is imminent.
11
@Frank McNamara
“...has always been the preferred choice of the ambitious, but lazy, second-rater.”
The best line I will read today in English. Thank you.
15
@Frank McNamara --
"Lightweights" at Harvard don't graduate Phi Beta Kappa. It's a pretty talented and competitive group of people.
Also, I've known many journalists, and not one is "lazy." Quite the opposite in fact. And even politicians and lobbyists I do not respect are clearly working long, hard days.
There is much to criticize about what is known regarding the conduct of Greg Craig and the other two individuals referred to the SDNY for possible prosecution. There's no need to stretch for laughably inaccurate claims.
5
@Frank McNamara
I don't understand why you throw journalists into the same pot as lobbyists and politicians, as the former are the ones doing their best to inform us about the misdeeds of the latter!
So all of these lobbyists are referred for prosecution but only one - Manafort - is prosecuted for the federal probe? Judge Ellis is right - the only reason Mueller is prosecuting Manafort himself is in an attempt to “get Trump.” Despite the fact Manafort’s current case stems from activity that happened long before he met Donald Trump. It’s unfortunate the Mueller probe into Trump has such an appearance of bias, but Mueller has only himself to blame for that.
16
@XLER Plus if anyone thinks just three lobbyists broke the rules you are crazy. Podest a will get kid gloves and a fine.
1
@XLER
What difference does it make if these people are prosecuted by lawyers from a U.S. Attorney's office or lawyers reporting to Mr. Mueller? I'm guessing both are reasonably competent.
Do you really think Manafort would have a better chance with the former?
I think not.
9
@XLER
Process is key. Manafort was investigated and ultimately charged. The three lobbyists are now under investigation. One member of the Skadden firm has already plead guilty. Also, Mueller has been referring some cases out to other federal prosecutors all along, most likely because they do not fall within the mandate of the Special Prosecution's investigation while still being worthy of investigation and possible prosecution.
14
Maybe THIS is what Trump meant by 'drain the swamp'?
28
80% of DC are lobbyists and they all do business with foreign governments.
Exactly how many are properly registered?
Almost none.
19
@William RodhamThis morning, many are filling out the forms for the first time...
11
"Michael T. Flynn was facing possible charges of violating the law over his secret work for the Turkey ..."
Is this the Thanksgiving bird or the country?
Does anybody read this before it gets posted?
6
The fact that money corrupts isn't new. If the President and Congress had any interest in saving this democracy they would legislate restrictions on the flow of money and influence. But there is zero interest on the part of Republicans and marginal interest from Democrats.
It's really basic economics: the incentive is to continually raise funds to maintain ones power and those with the funds represent corporate and foreign interests. The result is a system that caters to those interests and throws crumbs to the people.
66
Wouldn't it be ironic if the person investigating Trump does more to "drain the swamp" than Trump does?
183
@Bryan - ironic indeed. Of course, Trump sets quite a low bar for draining the swamp—if anything he’s enlarged it ten-fold, enriching himself and his family the way no one in American public life—and certainly no American President—ever has. To paraphrase Steve Schmidt, he has debased the American presidency in staggeringly corrupt ways.
PS. Re the swamp—if you want to see the embodiment of swamp creatures, google Brett Kavanaugh’s dad. There’s a reason Grassley, Haberman et al only talk about his mother.
16
Lobbyists are the cancer of our political system. They eat away at the integrity of our government until the public no loner believes the government has their best interest at heart. Sound familiar? Lobbying must be outlawed plain and simple.
189
It is bad, but outlawing it would send them all underground. Public declarations of who is lobbying for whom to whom would increase transparency.
I'm curious why these investigations are being handed off to New York prosecutors while Paul Manafort is being handled directly by the Mueller investigation. It would seem all the possible charges are related. Why the distinction? Manafort's tax fraud charges are apparently best tried in Virginia. However, why wouldn't Mueller hand over the investigation to Virginia state prosecutors then? There seems to be an inconsistency that could hurt Mueller.
As a matter of fact, I believe Judge Ellis criticized Mueller on exactly this point when first considering the Manafort trial. The trial was obviously allowed to proceed. However, we don't want this question to resurface in a negative light when considering other suspects. Mueller needs to outline a protocol and stick to it. No mistakes.
9
@Andy: Manafort is currently under multiple investigations. His current trial is in Alexandria, VA and is being prosecuted by the federal prosecutor from that jurisdiction, not Robert Mueller.
27
@Andy
Manafort's trial has to do with Federal laws, not state. And not in the scope of Mueller's work so it is being handled by other Federal Prosecutors. If you didn't pay the IRS what you owe them, you would be tried in Federal court in the state where you live. Manafort's home is VA.
1
@chamber I believe Manafort is being harassed, I mean, prosecuted by the Muller team - NOT the federal prosecutors from VA.
Has Mueller referred these cases to state jurisdiction to shield them from Trump's itchy pardon fingers?
81
@Sara G.
If that were the case wouldn’t he have referred Manafort for state prosecution given he was the only one of these lobbyists who had any relationship to Trump?
3
@XLER: Maybe! I don't know since I'm not an attorney but I do know that Trump can pardon federal cases. Mueller obviously knows what he's doing so perhaps it's part of his strategy. Maybe there was a reason Mueller opted for federal with Manafort that we don't know about yet. We shall see!
@Sara G. Depending on the charges, states may not have jurisdiction to prosecute the cases. If he has not referred the cases to states, I'm guessing that's why.
1
Lobbying on behalf of foreign nationals, entities, individuals and governments should be illegal, completely. During a political campaign, candidates, their campaigns and children (no matter how intellectually challenged) should take money or engage in any political activity whatsoever, regardless of the reason. Same is true for social media! During a campaign, they should be prohibited from taking money from any not US certified source for anything remotely related to politics aor news. I had no love or respect for Hillary Clinton but I can find no justification for the dumb DJT jr to engage in any manner with Russians (or any other party) in trying to find "dirt". I would say exactly the same about the Clinton's if they reached out to a foreign body to seem "dirt" on Trump. Just seems morally wrong, full of risk and unpatriotic.
17
We all know by now that the lobby industry is as slimy as it gets. All that drives these people is greed and enormous sums of money freely thrown about to satisfy their lust for it. Trump and his associates no doubt fit right in. No matter Manafort’s outcome the supreme grift will continue on under the disguise of draining the swamp by making America Great Again. The swamp clearly has not been drained, it just has a new and more greedy pecking order.
22
Mr. Mueller is an interesting character. He asked for Comey's job right after Comey was fired. Then when he did not get it he started his Russian Hoax (great new book by the way) investigation as has come up with 0. Mueller had a strong conflict of interest as he had a political relationship with the president but another player he is looking to make a dime and waste taxpayer $$$. Mannafort was only involved for 3 months in the campaign and long gone before the election. Hopefully the Russian hoax theory invented by leftists gets wrapped up and the president continues with his plans for a great economy, security, and all of the other issues leftists have tried tirelessly to distract us.
6
@Jan
I am always amused to to see the distorted views of those who ignore facts, and instead rely on feelings about issues. I have plenty of feelings, but in my world facts rule. The only hoax coming from the investigation is from those who oppose it. They always seem to presume "facts" when we really know very little of what the investigation has uncovered. A Grand Jury is a secret proceeding, and generally no leaks come from the Jurors.
47
@Jan from all the reporting I've seen, President Trump interviewed Mueller for the FBI director position, but Mueller wasnt really interested. And, by all accounts, the Mueller investigation has yielded results, including multiple indictments against numerous Russians and guilty pleas by Americans. And, not for nothing, 2 of those pleas were from high ranking members of the Trump campaign and administration ( Gates and Gen. Flynn). It sounds to me like Mueller is "draining the swamp." I thought that's what all the Trump supporters wanted. Or does it only count when the swamp creatures have the last name Clinton?
46
@Jan it seems you forgot the bit about several Trump associates who already plead guilty in the Russian investigation. Your fake president sought and accepted help from Russia to get elected. It's so obvious.
40
Good on ya, Mr. Mueller. I hope you continue to refer cases to whatever jurisdiction can prosecute these lecherous, thieving, swamp dwelling creatures.
60
If your a lobbyist in D.C. best you seek out the best lawyer you can find, the boogeyman Mueller is in the hunt.
3
The Manafort case isn’t about Trump, it’s about illegal lobbying. The big news here is Podesta, but of course since he was Obama and Hillary’s guy that’s downplayed. Should be a headline.
13
You are confusing the brothers, Tony and John. One is nominally a Republican and the other a Democrat.
24
@David
They are both Democrats.
Count this 71 year old as grateful for the way all this is playing out, I am learning a great deal about how my government works, both in the forthright actions of Mr. Mueller, and in the shady, behind the scenes actions of lobbyists and big money people.
Now I see just how Congress got bought off.
We really, really need to get big money out of politics.
As FDR said many years ago, "Government by big money is just as bad as government by big mob".
Hugh
207
@Hugh Massengill Yes, you are absolutely right and as a 77 year old, I am learning more than I think I really ever wanted to know (but certainly NEED TO!). Also, I have been surprised , worried and appalled by the power of the Executive Branch/President. I truthfully never knew (although I don't think it was ever tested to the degree it has been) and I think laws need to be passed to change this.
5
@Hugh Massengill
Just out of curiosity, Hugh, do you have a source for that quote? Would be interesting to read the entire speech or see it in context.
@Expat Annie
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LzXRPqQm8U
I misremembered it. It was "government by organized money is just as bad as government by organized mob".
Hugh
It appears that Mr. Mueller & Friends are starting to drain "the swamp" that Trump has blatantly enlarged.
Good luck to you all.
140
"They then retroactively registered to lobby for foreigners with the Justice Department in 2017."
Why is this legal?
77
@D. DeMarco
Because they put the cookie jar away only when caught elbow deep in it.
9
I doubt it's legal.
Where else have we heard about retroactive reporting? How many times has Jared Kushner amended his reports to add some "forgotten" multi-million dollar transaction? As if reporting it after someone discovers your omission makes it legal.
3
As for Trump's own moral and ethical standards and the morals and ethics in the Trump campaign and administration, Steve Schmidt, several months ago, described them the best: "a pool party at Caligula' s palace."
104
Are they going to bring charges against the thousands of people who are lobbying for Japan, China, Britain, France, Germany, and dozens of other countries? I doubt it but that would be cleaning the swamp. Trump's business empire is based on corruption but it was not necessarily criminal. Or if criminal, impossible to prove. But in the campaign he was extremely honest. He said, every businessman who contributes money expects favors and every politician who accepts contributions understands he is expected to perform for that money. That is why the Clintons have hundreds of millions of dollars today. No one talks about how rich Obama has become. If they prosecute Podesta to the fullest extent, it will be interesting to see where it leads.
5
@Mike, are you saying these monetary gains are illegal? or are you mad Obama and the Clinton's released tax returns? Is this really what makes you mad?
6
Cleaning up Washington these days is a lonely and Sisyphean task.
72
@Dan: More like the Augean Stables.
13
Bonus points for calling it a “Sisyphean” task!
1
Failing to register as a lobbyist, lying to the FBI and tax evasion. Are these charges Mr. Mueller’s last acts in an honorable life of public service? What, if anything lies ahead? 13 very capable lawyers plus a staff of investigators must have more after over a year of investigation and research. A scathing report will not satisfy the talking heads on CNN and MSNBC and their hopeful followers. There will be more. Much more and much more severe.
12
It's not like he was secretly lobbying on behalf of corporate America or American activists.
Lobbying is using money to create enough influence to alter a democracy so you don't need the same sort of voting power. He secretly was a lobbyist for a foreign country.
Logically, if the charge sticks, as Mueller's team seems to think, he will be charged as a type of secret foreign actor.
I guess this isn't much of a threat if you are ok with America being run by Ukrainian interests. And, mind you, that is the least charge prosecutors will be looking for, not "unregistered lobbying."
13
@Charlie said What, if anything lies ahead?
why not wait and see and then make a conclusion on the 'value' of the investigation.
no one watches the first 2 innings of the ball game and declares the game over.
OR
no one watches the first 30 minutes of 'Titanic' and says 'nice ship, but nothing exciting here'
11
It is in fact a swamp. The American people by and large know that, and Trump and his handlers were savvy enough to tap into that during the campaign. And it is nothing new, as anyone who has spent any time at high levels of American business also knows. What Trump represents, perhaps more than anything else, is a fundamental and pervasive breakdown of ethics. And when that goes the rest is essentially irrelevant. It appears Mr. Mueller and Mr. Rosenstein are among the last of a dying breed - those whose actions are based solely on sound principles, deeply held personal values, and love of country. They will likely prove to be true national heroes.
242