I probably should refrain from posting anything more about Donald Trump and the Mueller investigations until Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller issues his final report. But having already posted on this topic, I find it hard to stop. I continually feel the need to make new posts to clarify or explain or update my previous posts.
My present opinion is that if the Mueller investigation finds anything that Donald Trump or his inner circle have done that is worthy of indictment or impeachment, it is much more likely to be in their relationships with Russian oligarchs and mobsters than with Vladimir Putin or (knowingly) with the Russian FSB.
Trump’s whole business career was based on his relationships with corrupt American officials and organized crime figures. The revival of his real state empire after the collapse of his casino gambling business was largely due to infusions of Russian money, as Donald Trump Jr. boasted in 2008.
Nobody that I know of has proved that Trump knowingly helped Russians launder money they got from crime or corruption, but the question is not only what he knew for a fact, but what he probably guessed and was expected to know, but made sure not to know.
If he or his family have done anything blackmail-able, my guess is that it has to do with business dealings with individual Russians.
[Added 8/16/2018] One interesting thing about the reports (linked below) on Trump’s business connections with Russian gangsters is that they began in the mid-1980s. It indicates that the Russian so-called mafia was already a powerful force with ties to Trump even before the fall of Communism.
LINKS
If Trump is Laundering Russian Money, Here’s How It Works by Garrett M. Graff for Wired.
Buyers with ties to Russia, former Soviet republics, paid $109 million cash for Trump properties by Anita Kumar for McClatchy newspapers. In case you didn’t know, multi-million dollar real estate deals paid in cash are highly suspicious.
Secret Money: How Trump Made Millions Selling Condos to Unknown Buyers by Thomas Frank for BuzzFeed. The author is a different Thomas Frank from the one who wrote Listen, Liberal! or What’s the Matter With Kansas?
Trump’s Russian Laundromat by Craig Unger for The New Republic.
Phil Ebersole's Blog 
August 14, 2018 at 12:07 pm |
If Trump has nothing to hide, why so defensive, why so uncritical of V. Putin? Mueller may suspect or know, but what to do with that knowledge with many Republicans circling the wagons?
LikeLike