Hard to believe it’s only been three weeks since the first indictments were unsealed in Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation of the 2016 election. Those two indictments –against former campaign chairman Paul Manafort and his business partner, Rick Gates — were just the tip of the iceberg, and more are expected to be unsealed very soon.
But what most of us didn’t notice at the time is that there’s a third sealed indictment filed in connection with those of Manafort and Gates. And that indictment, according to Bill Palmer of Palmer Report, very likely has the name of President Trump on it. As Palmer notes:
“Manafort and Gates were charged and arrested based on an indictment which was listed as ‘Indictment (B)’ on the official court documents, which you can view here. By definition, this means there is also an ‘Indictment (A)’ in relation to the Manafort-Gates case. Based on protocol, that indictment is likely against a higher ranking target than Manafort or Gates.”
Who would be higher ranking in the pecking order than Manafort, who was chair of the campaign? It stands to reason that only Trump would be higher on a theoretical org chart than Manafort. And the reason Mueller has kept that third indictment sealed makes perfect sense: He doesn’t want the target named in the document to know that he or she has been indicted.
It has long been speculated by legal analysts that Mueller will go after Trump in two ways:
- Indicting the president’s co-conspirators and convincing them to turn against Trump in exchange for leniency.
- Securing indictments against Trump on as many criminal charges as possible so it can easily be demonstrated to both the public and reluctant Republicans in Congress that the president needs to be removed from office.
If indeed Trump’s name is on the unsealed indictment associated with the Manafort/Gates matter, Trump is probably looking at at least being charged with money laundering, obstruction of justice, and conspiracy against the United States. Those three charges would be more than enough to get him impeached.
It’s been said before but it bears repeating: Donald Trump is toast. Now all that remains to be seen is when exactly all of the facts are laid on the table for the world to see.
Featured Image Via You Tube
