Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

It’s all just conspiracy shit beamed down from the mothership.

There is no right way to do the wrong thing.

It could be worse. Vance could have said “post-menopausal sows.” Waiting for that audiotape to surface.

Damn right I heard that as a threat.

Relentless negativity is not a sign that you are more realistic.

An unpunished coup is a training exercise.

Teach a man to fish, and he’ll sit in a boat all day drinking beer.

“And when the Committee says to “report your income,” that could mean anything!

Putin must be throwing ketchup at the walls.

“That’s what the insurrection act is for!”

Republican speaker of the house Mike Johnson is the bland and smiling face of evil.

When the time comes to make an endorsement, the pain of NYT editors will be palpable as they reluctantly whisper “Biden.”

A thin legal pretext to veneer over their personal religious and political desires.

ha ha ha! Nice try weird people.

This has so much WTF written all over it that it is hard to comprehend.

After dobbs, women are no longer free.

You are so fucked. Still, I wish you the best of luck.

Republicans can’t even be trusted with their own money.

It’s pointless to bring up problems that can only be solved with a time machine.

There are more Russians standing up to Putin than Republicans.

Do not shrug your shoulders and accept the normalization of untruths.

Republicans are the party of chaos and catastrophe.

When do the post office & the dmv weigh in on the wuhan virus?

JFC, are there no editors left at that goddamn rag?

You are here: Home / Economics / C.R.E.A.M. / Repub Venality Open Thread: Manafort Trial, Day Three

Repub Venality Open Thread: Manafort Trial, Day Three

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The Oval Office Occupation seems to be shaping up its final defense: Trump has decompensated so much since 2016 — ask his old frenemy, Omarosa! — that he can’t be held responsible any longer. The Reagan Defense, sped up for our modern social-media age. Per Gabriel Sherman at Vanity Fair, ““The Manafort Trial Is Spinning Him into a Frenzy””:

… Sources say Trump is increasingly taking his legal defense into his own hands—very much at his own peril. The Sessions tweet crossed a line into what many interpreted to be outright obstruction of justice. Trump also is arguing that he wants to sit for an interview with Mueller, against his lawyers’ advice, The New York Times reported. This is partly driven by Trump’s frustration with his legal team’s inability to end the Mueller probe. As I reported this week, Trump is angry with his lawyer Rudy Giuliani for giving a series of erratic television interviews that seemed to disclose a previously unknown strategy meeting at Trump Tower that took place days before Don Jr.’s infamous sit-down with a Russian lawyer to get “dirt” on Hillary Clinton. Trump is also unhappy with White House counsel Don McGahn, who in the past stood in the way of Trump’s effort to fire Mueller…

Inside the White House, West Wing advisers fear that Trump is careening toward disaster with few guardrails. One prominent Republican close to the White House told me Chief of Staff John Kelly made his decision to stay on past his one-year mark, in part, to be present in case Trump makes a calamitous decision. “Kelly knows he’s the last bulwark against insanity in that White House,” the Republican said…

Paul Manafort’s longtime bookkeeper testified against him Thursday, telling a Virginia jury that his seven-figure lifestyle lasted until about 2015 when the cash ran out, the bills piled up and he and his business partner began trying to fudge numbers to secure loans.

The dry but potentially damaging testimony from the bookkeeper, Heather Washkuhn, appeared to undercut Manafort’s defense against bank and tax charges, which is that his business partner is responsible for any financial misdeeds. But Washkuhn testified that Manafort approved “every penny.”

Washkuhn spent hours on the witness stand, describing account balances, bills received and payments. Her testimony is critical to the case being heard by a six-man, six-woman jury in Alexandria, Va., as Manafort, who was then-candidate Donald Trump’s campaign chairman for a period in 2016, is charged with running a years-long scheme to hide millions of dollars from the Internal Revenue Service, and then, when his income dried up, lying to get bank loans so he could continue living the good life.

Washkuhn characterized Manafort as a “very knowledgeable” client. “He was very detail-oriented. He approved every penny of everything we paid,” she said.

That point could prove vital in jury deliberations because Manafort’s lawyers have made clear they aim to place blame on the case’s star witness, former Manafort right-hand man Rick Gates, portraying Gates as a liar and embezzler who is responsible for any financial chicanery the FBI uncovered.

On the witness stand, Washkuhn said she prepared ledgers for Manafort’s finances, which she would eventually hand off to his accountants to file his tax returns. She said she sometimes saw transactions in those accounts from other accounts to which she did not have access.

Critically, Washkuhn testified that she did not have any records of foreign accounts controlled by Manafort and had not been aware of such accounts. Prosecutors have introduced evidence that Manafort used foreign accounts to pay millions of dollars for clothes, cars, real estate and home remodeling…

Prosecutors also said Gates, the key witness in the case, could testify as early as Friday.

Gates pleaded guilty this year to lying to the FBI and conspiring against the United States, and he agreed to cooperate against his former boss and partner in hopes of receiving a lighter sentence.


 
Yet to be explained?

Reader Interactions

39Comments

  1. 1.

    TriassicSands

    Trump has an unlimited right to pardon (other people for federal convictions), but could offering a pardon to someone to prevent incriminating testimony be seen as obstruction of justice?

  2. 2.

    Platonailedit

    Kelly knows he’s the last bulwark against insanity in that White House

    Fucking hubris of this fucking racist asshole.

  3. 3.

    Amir Khalid

    @TriassicSands:
    It’s been pointed out here, many a time and oft, that once you’ve been pardoned for something, you can’t take the Fifth and refuse to testify about what you were pardoned for. So pardoning someone as a quid pro quo for their silence about his part in their crime might not work for Monsieur le President Trump.

  4. 4.

    Amir Khalid

    If John Kelly needs to go to Trump and plead for his job, he’s in no position to be a bulwark against insanity in the White House.

  10. 10.

    Comrade Nimrod Humperdink

    @Amir Khalid: John Kelly is the respectable racist in a whole troop of them. Mattis is the only cabinet member I have any semblance of sympathy for

  15. 15.

    Zinsky

    I hope they look into other Manafort/Roger Stone corruption that has sullied this planet over the past 40 years, like supporting other brutal dictators in Asia, Africa and other places. Manafort and Stone are two of the lowest forms of life on the planet and need to die in prison. Regarding the Orange Sex Offender, Trump would have been impeached in his first six months in office, if we had any GOP senators or representatives with any integrity or common human decency. The Founding Fathers assumed that Congress would be populated by decent people who respected the rule of law, instead of ignorant, craven toads like Paul Ryan and Jim Jordan.

  16. 16.

    EZSmirkzz

    You know the old saying, If you can’t dazzle ’em with brilliance, baffle them with bullshit.
    Well, the bullshit is hitting the oscillating air circulation device now.

  19. 19.

    randy khan

    Kelly’s decision to stay on is something of a measure of his own self-regard, but by the same token he is what passes for a sane person in this Administration (a low bar, to be sure), so he’s not entirely wrong.

  20. 20.

    ByRookorbyCrook

    Kelly is not a sane person. He is the presentable general. He is as much a whack-a-loon as his boss. He just doesn’t have the twitter obsession.

  21. 21.

    gvg

    The only thing I hope Kelly can do by staying is keep nukes from being used. Bonus is no actual war gets started. When those stories about the 3 generals trying to be the sane ones who would restrain the President started, it was in the context of nukes and Trump saying why not use them. There was no promise they were non racist nor really any chance Trump would listen to or appoint a non racist complicit person. Just stop the nuke orders. It’s not assured they can succeed either as Trump is increasingly just going his own way.

  22. 22.

    EZSmirkzz

    @randy khan:
    @ByRookorbyCrook:

    Hard to say about General Kelly, whether he has a sense of duty like George Marshall did, or the more prosaic estimation that he embodies why our general staff of yes men and ass kissers can’t win wars. Obviously he is working for an administration that is as corrupt as Chiang Kai-shek, and also another darling of the American conservatives. Interestingly Marshall was one of the first Generals, and as Sec of State, first people to be accused of treason by Sen Joe McCarthy of Wisconsin.

    American conservatism seems to warp its’ adherents into conspiracy theorists that see boogie men under every bed but their own. The ‘I’m OK the rest of the world is all screwed up!’ syndrome.

  23. 23.

    HinTN

    @EZSmirkzz:

    … why our general staff of yes men and ass kissers can’t win wars.

    Mostly I think we don’t win wars because the political price of doing what war truly requires if it is to be won is far higher than what our politicians are willing to pay for these petty foreign adventures that pass for war these days.

  24. 24.

    EZSmirkzz

    @HinTN: Ultimately it always falls back on the political will of the people, and hence the politicians. Sitting out here in the boondocks it’s impossible to discern the politics of the inner sanctums of the DoJ. We never get the whole story from any of the various media as those people all have points of view too, and reasons for reporting on various things or not. So we have to dig those things out ourselves, which is a tremendous amount of work experience has taught. It can be done, but there is a hell of a price to paid for doing so. since you make no friends and handfuls of enemies by doing so. Been there did that.

  27. 27.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @Bess: That would fit Trump narcissism and general laziness if Trump simply refuses to make his own decisions and just sits around telling his staff how much they suck all the time.

  28. 28.

    TaMara (HFG)

    Damn, it’s always the bookkeeper that saves the day. Or ends up in witness protection. (This is only funny if you know my real identity, LOL)

  30. 30.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @Amir Khalid: That would be true with a normal executive.But remember Trump spends all his time watching Fox News and rage twittering. It’s very likely Kelly is actually doing what a normal president does.

  31. 31.

    the Conster

    I don’t understand why Roger Stone hasn’t been indicted by now. And I don’t understand how anyone isn’t raising the Sanders>Devine>Manafort>Stone>Trump>GOP>Putin connection like the emergency it is.

  32. 32.

    JGabriel

    @TriassicSands:

    Trump has an unlimited right to pardon (other people for federal convictions), but could offering a pardon to someone to prevent incriminating testimony be seen as obstruction of justice?

    Seen as Obstruction: Yes.

    Prosecuted as Obstruction: Debateable. The DoJ’s belief/policy that a President can’t be indicted, means that prosecuting a sitting president for obstruction remains very unlikely – but not impossible. Depending on circumstances – like public demand, or Mueller making a strong case for indictment, and so on – the DoJ’s policy could change. But, again, it’s not likely.

    That said, the president being seen as committing obstruction is not nothing. It’s grounds for impeachment and removal, if more than half of the House views it as severe enough to constitute high crimes or misdemeanors, and two-thirds of the Senate concurs.

  33. 33.

    EZSmirkzz

    @the Conster: Maybe this will help; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tad_Devine :

    Thomas A. “Tad” Devine (born June 11, 1955)[1] is an American political consultant. Devine was a senior adviser in Al Gore’s 2000 and John Kerry’s 2004 Presidential campaigns.[2] He was also the chief strategist for Bernie Sanders’ 2016 presidential campaign.[3] He has worked on eleven winning campaigns for President and Prime Minister in Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East, as well as seventeen winning U.S. Senate races.[4] Devine is currently the president of Devine Mulvey Longabaugh, a Washington D.C.-based media consulting firm. In October 2010, he was recognized as one of “the nation’s most respected media consultants” by USA Today.[5]

    Sometimes there’s no there there I suppose.

    ETA also too

    Since early 1993, Devine has worked as a media consultant, writing, directing and producing television and radio advertising for leading Democratic candidates in the U.S. and providing strategic advice for national campaigns in Europe, the Middle East and South America. Devine has worked on the winning campaigns of New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine in 2005, and several campaigns of senators, including Sheldon Whitehouse (RI), Bill Nelson (FL), Bernie Sanders (VT), John Kerry (MA) and the DSCC independent expenditure for the winning senate races of Claire McCaskill (MO) and Robert Menendez (NJ), as well as numerous statewide elections. Devine’s work as a strategist and media consultant has been recognized by leading media and political consulting organizations. Devine has produced award-winning television advertising for Sen. Edward Kennedy (MA), Sen. John Edwards (NC), and Gov. Parris Glendening (MD).

  34. 34.

    JGabriel

    @the Conster:

    I don’t understand why Roger Stone hasn’t been indicted by now.

    Because Mueller is playing it safe, by slow-rolling the approach to the Trump campaign.

    The crimes for which Manafort is being tried don’t implicate Trump, his family, or the campaign – yet.

    The crimes for which Stone would be indicted will almost certainly implicate Trump and his presidential campaign.

    And the minute Trump realizes Mueller has both the goods to prove conspiracy, and the will to prosecute it, is when Trump will go all out to fire Mueller. So Mueller is slow-rolling the approach to indictments that will implicate the Trump campaign, so he can collect as much evidence as possible before the almost inevitable firing by Trump.

    At least, that’s my guess – but IANAL, YMMV, etc.

  35. 35.

    EZSmirkzz

    Just a reminder to everyone about the Steele dossier BS being forked out by Trump

    The Trump–Russia dossier, also known as the Steele dossier,[1] is a private intelligence report comprising 17 memos that were written from June to December 2016[2] by Christopher Steele, a former head of the Russia Desk for British intelligence (MI6). The resulting dossier contains allegations of misconduct and conspiracy between Donald Trump’s presidential campaign and the Government of Russia during the 2016 election cycle, with campaign members and Russian operatives allegedly colluding to interfere in the election to benefit Trump.[3] It also alleged that Russia sought to damage Hillary Clinton’s candidacy, including sharing negative information about Clinton with the Trump campaign.[4] The dossier was published in full by BuzzFeed on January 10, 2017.[5] Several mainstream media outlets criticized BuzzFeed’s decision to release it without first verifying its allegations.[6][7]

    Fusion GPS, a private investigative firm, provided political opposition research against Trump in two distinct phases, with completely separate funders. Fusion GPS was first contracted by a conservative political website, The Washington Free Beacon, and Steele was not involved in that research. When Trump became the presumptive Republican Party presidential nominee on May 3, 2016, The Free Beacon stopped their backing. Separately, in April 2016, attorney Marc Elias hired Fusion GPS to investigate Trump on behalf of Hillary Clinton’s campaign and the Democratic National Committee (DNC). In June 2016, Fusion GPS subcontracted Steele to research and compile the dossier. Steele was hired without knowing, or ever having direct contact with, his ultimate clients,[8] and his only instructions were to seek answers to this basic question: “Why did Mr. Trump repeatedly seek to do deals in a notoriously corrupt police state that most serious investors shun?”[9] Senior Clinton campaign officials were reportedly unaware that Fusion GPS had subcontracted with Steele, and Steele was not told the Clinton campaign was the ultimate recipient of his research.[10][8] Following Trump’s election as president, funding from Clinton and the DNC ceased, but Steele continued his research, and was reportedly paid directly by Glenn R. Simpson, a co-founder of Fusion GPS.[11] The completed dossier was then handed to British and American intelligence services.[12] Weeks before the 2016 election, on the basis of Steele’s reputation working on Russia-related matters for nearly 20 years, the FBI reached an agreement to pay Steele to continue his work, but the agreement was later terminated as information about the dossier became public.[13]

    Before this gets shuffled down the memory hole, JSYK

    We really need to quite buying into the conservatives framing of the issues and events we’re discussing. I mean, would they lie to us? DuckDuckGo is our friend.

  36. 36.

    phein55

    The Manafort money laundering saga reminds me of The Pawn Shop guy’s explanation for the majority of his business being in gold chains:

    When drug dealers are arrested, any cash they have can be seized as illicit proceeds, but jewelry can’t. So, these guys send one or two chains to the pawn shop to raise cash to make bail, and they still have whatever other chains they have left to re-capitalize their business.

    There’s always an angle.

  38. 38.

    EZSmirkzz

    @EZSmirkzz: As I was saying, Marc A. Thiessen is forking the bullshit over at the Wapo, https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-clinton-campaign-sought-dirt-on-trump-from-russian-officials-wheres-the-outrage/2018/08/02/dee4be12-9672-11e8-810c-5fa705927d54_story.html?utm_term=.b739969bffbc

    Another conservative giving Doug Feith a run for his money I guess. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_J._Feith

    General Tommy Franks, who led both the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan and the Iraq War, once called Feith “the dumbest f***ing guy on the planet”.[17][18]

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