Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton is crooked. You might have heard that. For months now we’ve been told just how corrupt she is. We’ve heard lurid tales of Benghazi and raked over her emails with tiny little combs. Images of nefarious activities, secret meetings and evil, nasty cloak and dagger shenanigans have peppered the campaign as if sprinkled from the hand of a Michelin star chef. So, when the FBI launches an anti-corruption investigation against former team Trump supremo Paul Manafort, you have to sit up and take notice.
Turns out he might have been working for the Russians after all.
From Russia With Love
The investigation is not yet a criminal investigation but still, the timing is certainly intriguing. It comes just days after the FBI announced it was examining yet more emails, this time from a device seized from Anthony Weiner. Weiner’s device was confiscated during an investigation for sending sexually explicit messages to an underage girl.
Comey immediately came under fire for what looked an awful lot like an orchestrated partisan witch hunt in direct violation of the Hatch Act.
Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid seemed to have had enough. Wading in on the debate, albeit a little late in the day, he claimed that Comey was in possession of:
“… Explosive information about close ties and coordination between Donald Trump, his top advisers, and the Russian government.”
Fashionably Late To The Republican Party
Still, none of this comes as any real surprise. In fact the only real surprise is that the FBI didn’t bother to investigate this earlier. It certainly wasn’t for lack of evidence.
Back in August Liberal America took a look at Trump’s ties to Russia and concluded that they were anything but skin-deep. And just yesterday, Representative Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) accused the FBI of having double standards, saying:
“One of the things that you all have not talked about. I listened to the interview with Jason Miller about information out there about Mr. Trump, Mr. Manafort and the Russian government. Members of Congress, including myself, have asked for months for the FBI to provide us with information as to whether Mr. Trump other associates and the Russian government have any coordination or connection with each other.”
Manafort’s response was, as you might expect, nothing short of a complete denial. He told NBC that:
“… None of it is true … There’s no investigation going on by the FBI that I’m aware of.”
Regardless of his awareness of the investigation, Manafort has strong views on his connection to Russia dismissing the idea as nothing more than:
“… Political propaganda, meant to deflect.”
Putin On His Top Hat
Regardless, Manafort’s claims of zero ties to Russia are about as plausible as Trump’s. Which is to say, not at all. The New York Times reported back in August that he took $12.7 million in under-the-table payments from a pro-Russian party in the Ukraine. NBC reported in the same month that:
“[Manafort] was a key player in multi-million-dollar business propositions with Russian and Ukrainian oligarchs — one of them a close Putin ally with alleged ties to organized crime…”
Violation of the Hatch act only comes with one penalty — removal from office — but it’s still somewhat sub-optimal. It would further erode trust in government institutions. Besides, it would seriously cut short Comey’s ten-year term.
Perhaps it has something to do with why he’s decided that both candidates and their campaign teams warrant a little investigation?
Perish the thought.
Watch Trevor Noah warn of Trump’s ties to Russia:
Featured Image via screenshot from YouTube video
