Donald Trump and his supporters have long maintained that Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation is a witch hunt.
The media has tried to refute these claims by citing Mueller’s reputation as an alleged “straight shooter.”
But Mueller just made one move that proved he is out to remove Trump from office.
Mueller has expanded his investigation into alleged Russian meddling to probe Trump associates and their financial dealings that are unrelated to the 2016 campaign.
The special counsel has zeroed in on Paul Manafort and his work as a political consultant for foreign clients including a pro-Russian political party in Ukraine.
Mueller and his team are digging into Manafort’s financial records and could be seeking to bring money laundering charges against Trump’s former campaign chairman.
What cemented the fact that this was a political witch hunt designed to embarrass Trump was the revelation that Mueller’s team was working with New York’s Democratic Attorney General, Eric Schneiderman, on coordinating their investigations against Manafort.
Politico reports:
“Special counsel Robert Mueller’s team is working with New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman on its investigation into Paul Manafort and his financial transactions, according to several people familiar with the matter.
The cooperation is the latest indication that the federal probe into President Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman is intensifying. It also could potentially provide Mueller with additional leverage to get Manafort to cooperate in the larger investigation into Trump’s campaign, as Trump does not have pardon power over state crimes.
The two teams have shared evidence and talked frequently in recent weeks about a potential case, these people said. One of the people familiar with progress on the case said both Mueller’s and Schneiderman’s teams have collected evidence on financial crimes, including potential money laundering.”
Schneiderman is a diehard Trump hater who brought a lawsuit over Trump University against the President.
He is also investigating other Trump business deals, and after the election he positioned himself as a leader of the anti-Trump resistance.
Politico reports:
“The Trump University suit eventually was settled for $25 million days after the election, despite the then president-elect’s repeated pledges never to settle. Schneiderman could have left it at that. But Schneiderman has let it be known that Trump is still in his crosshairs. In the days since November 9, Schneiderman fired off a letter warning Trump not to drop White House support of Obama’s Clean Power Plan, introduced a bill in the state Legislature to give New Yorkers cost-free contraception if the Affordable Care Act is dismantled, threatened to sue after Trump froze EPA funding of clean air and water programs, and joined a lawsuit that argues that Trump’s executive order on immigration is not just unconstitutional and un-American, but it brings profound harm to the residents of New York State.
He has a record of going not only after Trump, but going after people now in Trumpworld. He’s on the opposite side of the Clean Power Plan fight from Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt, since named head of the EPA, and who Schneiderman labeled a “dangerous and unqualified choice.” He’s gone after Rex Tillerson, who as CEO of ExxonMobil defended his company from a Schneiderman investigation; since the election he’s begun investigating a reverse-mortgage business once led by Steven Mnuchin, the nominee to be the next Treasury secretary.”
Now Schneiderman could be working with Mueller to use criminal charges to pressure Manafort.
As President, Trump’s pardon power does not extend to state crimes.
If the state of New York brings charges against Manafort – and not the special counsel – only the New York AG would have the power to lessen the charges in exchange for cooperation.
Critics believe Mueller’s hope is that since Manafort cannot count on a pardon from the President, he would be forced to cooperate with investigators on providing information about collusion with Russia as his only means of receiving a lesser sentence.
Mueller teaming up with one of the leading anti-Trump partisans in America proves his investigation is a sham.
Its goal is not to discover the truth.
Mueller’s only purpose is to take down Trump.
