It will be Money Laundering and

[malaise]

Obstruction of Justice - Go Mueller!

[spanone]

1. whatever it takes....

[NCTraveler]

2. The money laundering is going to have to be crystal clear for it to matter in the next three years.

Republicans will overlook obstruction without batting an eye. Clear and egregious money laundering will be harder for them to ignore/explain away.

[mgardener]

17. Republicans might

But I don't think NY and NJ will!

[NCTraveler]

42. Doesn't matter if NY or NJ will.

If Republicans do. Hence the "next three years" comment.

[olegramps]

37. Capone got away with murder, but not paying his taxes. Ironic isn't it?

I could give up a lot to see Trump sent to prison and room with Bubba. He could take Kellyanne along to administer to his rear since she has a lot of experience kissing his.

[Guilded Lilly]

3. Yessss. The more charges, the better! The Stupid will not get it

But at that point it will be out of their hands and that is what we need to totally bring him down. The Stupid must be removed from the equation.

[HappyBeing]

19. I'm putting the O/U at 27 indictments

And taking the over.

[louis-t]

25. I think it will be under 20, but they will all be serious.

I say 17.

[Irish_Dem]

29. What about specific names? nt

[PJMcK]

31. Indictments

I'm a little confused. Are you suggesting that Trump will be charged with 27 counts or that 27 people will be indicted?

I think if Mr. Mueller really does a comprehensive job, the number of individuals charged or who plea deal will be even higher. The corruption is deep and profound and needs to be cleaned out.

[HappyBeing]

47. 27 charges against Trump

Fair warning: I'm an optimist.

My theory is - if you're going to indict a sitting president you have find to everything. The public deserves a very clear picture of how the president is criminally liable, so no stone will be left unturned. I think most of the charges will be related to his financial dealings.

[PJMcK]

54. Thanks and I agree

The breadth of Trump's corruption should be completely exposed. He should be removed, criminally indicted, convicted and jailed while all of his assets-- if there really are any-- should be confiscated.

Damn, I know that sounds harsh and sets a dangerous precedent, but the consequences of this presidency could destroy our nation.

[YessirAtsaFact]

4. There is every reason to believe Trump is being blackmailed

Why else would Trump ignore his government’s FBI and CIA and take Putin’s word that there was no meddling in the election?

Because Putin told Trump to say that.

I bet Putin has reams of evidence that Trump laundered money for the Russian mob.

Putin probably has embarrassing sex tapes too, but the evidence of money laundering is the real hook Putin has in Trump.

[Raster]

6. tRump* has been a Russian asset for years, and has been laundering money for Russians...

...the Mafiya, Putin* and his band of kleptocrat oligarchs for years. Of course Putin* knows where the tRump* bodies are buried. He helped bury them...AND kill them, also.

[burnbaby]

52. love your imagination lol nt

[FreepFryer]

7. I bet our IC has a lot of that kompromat as a result of Russian assistance.

True intelligence professionals in all countries recognize the existential danger the prosecution of these attacks on world democracies (esp. the US) poses to Russia.

Putin doesn’t care, because he calculates he is “too rich to fail.”

[not fooled]

15. Not just pee-pee

but underage. That's my guess. On tape. The one thing that even dumbass dump adherents might have to cringe at.

[PJMcK]

32. I'm not so sure

After all, Alabamans didn't seem to care that Roy Moore had gone after underage girls. Why would these deplorable people hold Trump to a higher standard?

[olegramps]

38. Unfortunately, I don't think anything would shake their devotion.

The Republican are hypocrites. Especially the evangelicals and fundamentalists. I despise them and the damn whore they rode in on.

[bluestarone]

55. hell i bet if God came down today and gave the Repubs a choice

UP or DOWN they would ALL choose DOWN

[Cosmocat]

24. Eh

They have info on him, but end of the day he is a truly sick man who very much is on board with whatever they are doing.

[shanny]

43. I doubt if he is being blackmailed.

He's so stupid he's easy to manipulate, and Putin is his pal, and role model. And trump doesn't / wouldn't consider it money-laundering, it is his business model.

That's why he continues to insist (and believe) that he did nothing wrong and this is all just so so unfair!

[FreepFryer]

5. And cyber and election crimes for a palate-cleanser (n/t)

[Wounded Bear]

8. In some ways, Trump may just be the tip of the iceberg...

The entire high-end real estate market and international finance needs purging. That's where the swamp gets filled from. Real estate is looking like a favorite way to launder money. American organized crime has well known connections to the building trades and has been a source of RW maligning of unions for decades. Perhaps much of that is deserved regarding those industries. We know that the Teamsters have had their brushes with the RICO laws in the past.

I don't want to start bashing unions, I support organized labor, but like any organization, the larger they get the more opportunities for corruption. My major concern right now is international finance and how Trump has used those channels to launder money for the Russians. The rest of this should come after that. I'm thinking of the Iceland scenario, where some bankers go to jail and the international banking community gets told to clean up their act or get out.

[malaise]

12. Great post

Thanks

[Wounded Bear]

14. Thank you...

[Scruffy1]

23. I think it's even larger than most believe.

It's just not the Russians. You would be naive to think that many of our national leaders don't have real or manufactured scandals being held over their heads. It seems to me the big money can spend a lot on compromising national figures to their benefit. I have an idea it's so big and crosses party lines so much that it's bound to be largely swept under the carpet. I think the Franken thing was just a warning to the faithful that they can destroy anyone and that they better not step out of line. We've already lost much of what little democracy we had.

[Wounded Bear]

33. True that...

and I think the recent hacks and releases of 'sensitive' data from offshore banks from Panama and the Caribbean point in this direction.

It's not just the 'multi-national corporations' we have to worry about. It's the multi-national financiers that worry me.

[olegramps]

40. Right on!!!

[bluestarone]

56. yep you got it right

[C_U_L8R]

9. If there's laundering, there's likely tax evasion too

What's good enough for Al Capone is good enough for Trump.

[malaise]

13. Yep

Lock them up!

[Poiuyt]

18. And may he suffer the same fate.

[GoCubsGo]

41. Capone was released from prison.

I don't want Trump to see the light of day once he's locked up. But, I think that like Capone, latent syphilis will be what gets him. People think he has Alzheimer's or dementia. Think he's just a syphilitic asshole.

[uponit7771]

35. +1

[Stuart G]

10. Get rid of ... "Trump" ... " Dump Trump"

[PRETZEL]

11. This, at a minimum

others have mentioned tax evasion also,

[Cicada]

16. Any jury will have at least one Trump voter so pointless

[bluestarone]

48. might have to move trial to

Europe

[Cicada]

50. Move trial to any civilized nation will work

America is funny, laughable. Someday, hopefully, we can look back on Trump and howl with laughter.

[Greybnk48]

20. I also believe money laundering IS the Trump fam. business

and always has been.

Money laundering for the mob, and any other sleazebags who needed their services world-wide. It could be that any building in the world with the name Trump on it is a laundering contact site for criminals and politicians, etc.

[cilla4progress]

21. All good thoughts

Money laundering
Conspiracy to subvert the election
Obstruction.

[TimeToGo]

22. More

Obstruction is an important charge. But it has to be more to get through to the supporters (and a lot of she press). There needs to be a solid crime being hidden by the obstruction. Money laundering helps. But collusion and election tampering needs to be there. I believe strongly that it is there. But the charges need to be there.

[cilla4progress]

27. Agreed

And based on Mueller’s last hire in November of a cyber expert, he is definitely looking into this.

[malaise]

53. Yes +1,000 n/t

[samnsara]

26. i always thought this....but his sons and associates will all get hanged for treason.

[shanny]

45. No. They won't.

Nobody will be charged with treason.

[onecent]

28. Let's keep this going...K & R!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[procon]

30. If there's money laundering, would there also be charges for tax evasion? nt

[LudwigPastorius]

34. Don't forget Conspiracy,...

...and Perjury (if Mueller can interview him under oath).

[radical noodle]

36. Yes...

I've always thought money laundering, and all Putin would have to do is say "No more money if you don't... (fill in the blanks).

[Straw Man]

39. Yes, money laundering ...

... but I'm thinking of something more along the lines of "If you don't ..., we'll tell them about ..." In other words, blackmail over past misdeeds.

[radical noodle]

44. Maybe but

I think he values money over everything.

[shanny]

46. yep. he certainly has no shame. nt

[Straw Man]

57. I'm not thinking of shame.

I'm thinking of prosecutable offenses.

[shanny]

59. and I wasn't replying to you

[Straw Man]

60. You were replying to a response to me.

One that contained a misapprehension of my point. You agreed with that misapprehension. I corrected it.

The pressure isn't about money OR shame. It's about keeping his sorry ass out of jail.

[NewJeffCT]

49. I'm a pessimist

If Trump allows the investigation to play out, I think Mueller will have charges on almost everybody in the White House - Pence, Don Jr, Eric, Kushner, Ivanka, and several others.

He will also have Trump on audiotape ordering Kushner, or one of his sons, to get the Russians to help him out versus Clinton.

Republicans in Congress will go on Fox News to say it was a partisan witch hunt and they're not doing anything about it. Democrats will whine and complain, but be drowned about by all the noise from the RW media machine.

[burnbaby]

51. why not collusion? nt

[wishstar]

58. Simpson mentioned violation of campaign laws (soliciting help from foreign government) too

in his Senate testimony

[Skittles]

61. WHEN?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

[malaise]

62. The sooner the better

[Skittles]

63. I can't take it I tell you malaise

hearing that racist scum call out Haiti in the most fucked up way........WTF......just know this - outside of his little cult of ignorant backwards racist fuck supporters HE IS DESPISED

[malaise]

64. Same here

I'm off for my walk - that helps.

[DeminPennswoods]

65. Yeah, money laundering

The poster child for this charge will be Trump's estate in FL that he sold to a Russian for 2x what he paid, then the Russian never lived in the place and eventually tore the mansion down. I also agree this is the Trump Org real estate business model. If there is a money laundering charge, that probably means one for tax evasion, too.

I think Mueller is certainly investigating obstruction of justice, which is a crime in and of itself regardless of the legality/illegality of the act being obstructed. That is, even if what one did was legal, interferring with a law enforcement investigation of it is illegal.n

I won't be surprised by an abuse of power charge if there's an impeachment. The WH working with Nunes to scuttle the House Intel investigation would be the tip of that iceberg, imho.

I think Mueller will try to tie a Trump campaign conspiracy with Russia to Roger Stone via Manafort. I think that's why Mueller is pressing so hard to get Manafort to flip. Possibly Bannon will cough up some info on Cambridge Analytica that ties them and Stone to Russia/wikileaks, etc.