Up till now, news in the Age of Trump has broken on Friday, too late for anyone to pay attention because they’re commuting home, burned out from another week fighting the dumpster fire our nation’s become. They’re too busy trying to reclaim their lives on the weekend, pretending that the house isn’t falling apart around them.
So it will come as no surprise to anyone paying attention that the news of Mueller’s pending indictment(s) came on Friday. What’s different is the way people have reacted since that news broke. Reactions ranging from “it’s nothing” to “they GOT the son of a bitch” have been all over my FB feed and on Twitter. Those who Know how slowly the gears of justice grind have cautioned folks to adopt a “wait and see” approach.
Since Friday’s news hit my feed, I’ve been squarely in the latter camp. No popcorn popping, no advance celebrations. I am in damage control mode here at TCT, mostly because I had better things to do last weekend than to exercise wild, idle speculation over who was going to get whacked come Monday morning.
So here we are, today.
Paul Manafort turned himself into the FBI this morning. So did Rick Gates. Who? According to Yahoo News:
…Gates was linked to internal turmoil during the campaign. Most notoriously, according to a campaign source, the Trump aide signed off on and edited the plagiarized speech given by Melania Trump at the Republican national convention, when she was quickly revealed to have copied chunks of a speech by Michelle Obama.
Here’s all the documentation you need regarding all the charges against them, thanks to Associated Press:
Mueller investigation documents
It’s an important step, but not the bombshell people wanted. Here’s why:
Wired.com: How to Interpret Robert Mueller’s Charges Against Paul Manafort
But the big news? The thing nobody expected?
Wasn’t there a guy by that name way back in the Clinton administration? No, that’s George Stephanopolous.
I could Retweet everything Seth Abramson has to say on this, but if you’re already on Twitter, go read the thread for yourself.
(THREAD) Paul Manafort and Rick Gates are now indicted. This thread analyzes legal and political aspects of their indictment and surrender. pic.twitter.com/Ir8zKaA1F2
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) October 30, 2017
The bottom line here is not just that there’s grounds for collusion with Russia over the campaign, but also subsequent grounds for suspicion AFTER Trump took office in January. At least that’s my takeaway from this:
The takeaway?
Of course, it’s Hillary must be colluding instead! Go arrest her and Mueller. They’re in this together!
This “wag the dog” moment brought to you by a flailing US President on the verge of a massive meltdown over his own fuck-ups, mistaken alliances, and a path to prison for at least some of the people who aided and abetted his rise and subsequently corrupt administration.
If you want to see what Rome looked like just before it burned, I invite you to peek into Washington, DC this morning.
Twitter’s the fiddle and Trump’s playing it for all it’s worth.
Now I’m going to get the popcorn.
ETA: Here’s Sarah Huckabee Sanders pretending none of this is connected to the campaign.