Christmas Morning<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When I was a kid in Kettering, Ohio, Christmas was a big deal. I remember waking up early, six-ish, and waiting in bed until I thought I could wake my parents. But when I went up to their room, I was groggily admonished, \u201cnot until seven!!\u201d So I sat on the end of their bed, counting the clicks on the stone faced clock they had on the dresser.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nine hundred: it was the number of \u201cclicks\u201d in fifteen minutes. Nine hundred: counting anticipation on Christmas morning. Now, I feel like I\u2019ve been counting clicks for weeks; we must get to nine hundred soon. It\u2019s not just the Mueller Report were waiting for: it\u2019s the other half of the Russian indictments. Thirteen Russian nationals<\/strong>have been indicted on conspiracy to defraud the United States by putting false propaganda (is that redundant?) on social media. It is the Russian \u201cside\u201d of the conspiracy, but there has been only one indictment on the American side,Richard Pinedo, <\/strong>the California man who helped launder the money paid to social media. He pled guilty, and was sentenced to six months in prison, and six month of house arrest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It is the core of the Russia question. Did Americans, and specifically members of the Trump Campaign, conspire with Russians, either in the use of Clinton Campaign emails, or social media. There is a tremendous amount of \u201csmoke,\u201d it will be in indictments or the Report that we will discover if Mueller found a \u201cfire.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n It might include the \u201cmisfits;\u201d Roger Stone<\/strong>, currently under indictment but not for Russian conspiracy;Jerome Corsi<\/strong>, who stated he was threatened with indictment by the Mueller team; and Carter Page<\/strong>, who has either effectively \u201cplayed the fool\u201d in the Russia saga, or is an exceptionally clever Russian agent. And of course Julian Assange<\/strong>, founder of Wikileaks and still hidden in the Ecuadoran Embassy in London. Assange has been indicted in the US, though not directly on charges relating to the Trump Campaign. But he clearly conspired with Russian Intelligence to put the Clinton Emails into the campaign. There is circumstantial evidence that Stone, Corsi and Page were connected to either Wikileaks or Russian Intelligence itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Or it can be the secretive \u201cdark forces\u201d behind the Trump Campaign. Steve Bannon<\/strong>, campaign director who was connected to Cambridge Analytica<\/strong>and the Mercer family. Brad Parscales<\/strong>, the social media director for the Trump Campaign, and the nexus of Facebook, Twitter and the Trump social media strategy. Paul Manafort<\/strong>, already serving seven years in jail, but never charged with crimes directly linked to Russia, even though his associate, Konstantin Kilimnick<\/strong>, a \u201cformer\u201d Russian Intelligence agent, was indicted for obstruction and witness tampering. And, perhaps the Mercer family<\/strong>itself, the founders of Cambridge Analytica and the \u201cbig money\u201d behind the Trump Campaign. They providing Bannon, Kelly-Ann Conway a<\/strong>nd the use of Cambridge Analytica for the general election campaign, and the fortune\u2019s founder, Bob Mercer<\/strong>, is already on the hook for tax evasion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Or, it could be the \u201cfamily,\u201d the central core of the Trump Campaign. General Mike Flynn <\/strong>may be directly involved, but has a plea bargain with the Mueller team, and is providing them inside information. Does he, or Manafort\u2019s deputy Rick Gates<\/strong>, also with a deal; have details on conspiracy by Donald Trump Jr<\/strong>, Jared Kushner<\/strong>, or Ivanka Trump<\/strong>. They were the real forces directing the Trump Campaign; if the campaign was cooperating with Russian Intelligence or Wikileaks, it\u2019s impossible that they wouldn\u2019t have known, consented, and participated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And finally, is there evidence against \u201cthe big enchilada,\u201d the President of the United States. Like it or not, the US Department of Justice won\u2019t indict a sitting President, a determination made as a side note when they were indicting the Vice President, Spiro Agnew, in 1973. So if there are indictable actions by Donald Trump<\/strong>, otherwise known as \u201cindividual one<\/strong>,\u201d it will be seen either as an \u201cunindicted co-conspirator\u201d in other indictments, as was done by Special Prosecutor Leon Jaworski to Richard Nixon, on in the text of the Report itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If the family knew, Trump knew. If they are indicted, it\u2019s difficult to see how he could not be, barring the \u201cPresidential exception.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Soon, the \u201cnine hundred clicks,\u201d and the arguments will be over. We will know if the Trump Campaign cooperated, colluded, and most importantly, conspired with Russian Intelligence or their agents. Robert Mueller will give us the answers: I have faith that the former FBI Director and Marine knows where his duty lies; to give honest answers to the people of the United States. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Then we open the presents: will we be excited, or will we be disappointed? Either way, the next fight will soon begin.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"