Mueller’s Craptastic Special Council Has One Result So Far: Manafort Charged With Tax Fraud

So this is tax fraud from BEFORE he worked on the Trump campaign? The whole Trump ‘collusion’ crap is a big, fat nothing burger.  This has zero to do with Trump. Since Mueller (who is a Dem partisan) has been desperately flailing around looking for someone to investigate, this is the best he’s come up with so far?

Via Fox News

Manafort also worked for Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska. In 2005, Manafort came up with a plan to influence U.S. politics, business dealings and the media in order to “greatly benefit the Putin Government,” according to the Associated Press.

Deripaska, 49, is a close Putin ally and signed a $10 million annual contract with Manafort in 2006. They maintained a business relationship until at least 2009, the Associated Press reported.

Financial records obtained by the New York Times indicated that Manafort was in debt to pro-Russian interests by up to $17 million prior to joining Trump’s campaign.

Via the Wall Street Journal

The former chairman of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign has been told to surrender to authorities on charges including tax fraud, according to people familiar with the matter.

Paul Manafort is expected in federal court in Washington, D.C., later on Monday, the people said.

Mr. Manafort was charged in an indictment returned on Friday along with his former business associate, Rick Gates, several of the people said. They are the first to face arrest in an investigation into Russia’s meddling in the 2016 election led by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, a former FBI director.

The indictment is expected to be unsealed later on Monday.

Mr. Manafort and his attorney Kevin Downing arrived about 8:15 a.m. at the FBI’s Washington Field Office. Mr. Manafort didn’t respond to questions as he entered the building.

Mr. Mueller’s team, which includes 16 attorneys versed in public-corruption, fraud and national-security matters and more than two dozen FBI agents, has been presenting evidence before a federal grand jury convened in Washington since July.

……Mr. Manafort has been the focus of an investigation examining whether he violated tax laws or engaged in illicit financial transactions. In July, FBI agents working with Mr. Mueller raided a home of Mr. Manafort’s to obtain documents and other material tied to foreign bank accounts and tax matters.

Mr. Manafort’s spokesman, Jason Maloni, has said in the past that Mr. Manafort didn’t collude with the Russian government to help Moscow interfere in the 2016 election. He couldn’t be reached for comment on Monday.

More:

……Gates is a longtime associate of Manafort. According to The Times, his name appeared on documents linked to companies that Manafort’s firm created in Cyprus to receive payments from politicians and businesspeople in Eastern Europe.

White House lawyer Ty Cobb told Fox News he had no comment on the report at this time.

It was widely speculated that Manafort would receive the first charges in Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation.

Manafort has been investigated for his dealings in Ukraine several years ago, for which he did not register as a foreign agent until June 2017.

So, basically, it’s money laundering, which Hillary and Bubba Clinton did the entire time they ran the Clinton Foundation.

Bonus: Sarah Huckabee Sanders responds to snark from leftie journo Jim Acosta:

This individual was a member of a volunteer advisory council that met one time over the course of a year. He was part of a list that was read out in The Washington Post. I would hardly call that some sort of regular adviser or, as you want to push, that he is a senior member of the staff. He was not paid by the campaign. He was a volunteer on a council that met once.

Boom.