Trump Card

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

16. Follow the money. The issue isn't credibility of witnesses; it's money.

The fundamental question is, why is Trump so kissy-face with Russia? Why do so many of his minions have financial ties to Russia, which isn't so much a government as a criminal enterprise? Putin and the oligarchs are as corrupt as they come. Trump's sons Uday and Qusay have admitted that much of the Trump Organization's financing has come from Russia (they couldn't get loans from any US banks). Just after the election Jared Kushner met with a Russian who runs a bank under sanctions. Manafort is tied into a dodgy bank in Cyprus which is known to launder Russian money.

The underlying crimes will be money laundering and tax evasion, and right now it appears Trump is doing a very Nixon-ish thing: he's trying to cover up a cover-up. The Russians, desiring a Trump victory because they want the sanctions lifted, hacked into our elections; that much is known. But Trump doesn't seem to want to investigate that (probably because he has actual knowledge of collusion by his campaign - the dog that didn't bark). Because of Trump's likely entanglements with Russian money they have plenty of leverage to ensure his cooperation. That's the initial thing that Trump needs covered up. But he also needs to cover up the fact that he's covering up his sketchy financial ties with Russia (refusing to release his tax returns, etc.). So he's tried to use Flynn to keep the Russians in the loop; hired Sessions to oversee the mess; co-opted Nunes to create a smoke screen; and tried to get assurances from Comey that Flynn wouldn't be investigated.

It's déjà vu all over again. Flynn might roll first. But it's essential to follow the money.