SLATE: New filing indicates Robert Mueller may have new collusion evidence.

[kpete]

Robert Mueller has something new cooking.

In a new court filing on Thursday, the special counsel’s office revealed additional details of the probe that indicate he has recently expanded his investigation of Paul Manafort. The further implication of this filing is that Mueller is actively building a collusion case against the former Trump campaign chairman or other Trump campaign officials, and potentially basing it on the testimony of former Manafort deputy Rick Gates.

The new details show that Mueller’s team acquired search warrants on five telephone numbers last month, just two weeks after Gates began to officially cooperate in Mueller’s probe.

The filing was a response to a motion from Manafort’s attorneys to see additional details of search warrants related to Manafort. For the most part, Mueller’s team has turned over these details. But as it pertained to a warrant obtained on March 9 for the phone numbers, the special counsel’s office insisted that the warrant be redacted because they are “relating to ongoing investigations that are not the subject of either of the current prosecutions involving Manafort.”

.............

If the warrants against the five phones are “not the subject of either of the current prosecutions involving Manafort,” then they would seem to not be connected to the crimes arising out of the Ukrainian imbroglio, which is the subject of his current prosecutions. By process of elimination, they are related to either a potential collusion case against Manafort, or additional targets. If there are additional targets, though, they would have to be connected in some way to Mueller’s wider mandate to investigate Russia’s interference in the 2016 election and/or the Trump campaign’s potential cooperation with that interference and links to Russia.

In other words, Mueller appears to be going after someone for collusion using the Manafort connection.

............

the rest:
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/04/new-filing-indicates-robert-mueller-may-have-new-collusion-evidence.html?wpsrc=sh_all_dt_tw_ru

Filing here:
https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/4432492-Show-Temp.html

[malaise]

1. I'm betting that at least one of those phone numbers is

connected to a well known Tower.

[quartz007]

2. Collusion is not a crime, obstruction of justice is...

Collusion with Russia is only a political problem for Rump.
Don't know which law forbids talking to foreigners.

However firing FBI director when FBI is investigating collusion can be obstruction of justice.

[Stallion]

3. That's Just Semantics-Substitute the Term "Conspiracy to Violate...with (name Criminal Statute)

...functionally the same thing. See 18 USC 371

https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/371---


not every conspirator has to commit the entirety of the crime if they had a common purpose or design to violate the statute and committed an act in furtherance of the object of the conspiracy-they can all be held criminal responsible. I would say Mueller is getting pretty damn close to that standard

[quartz007]

4. Politicians and presidential candidates

are bombarded by foreigners and ambassadors to "discuss" issues and they do by meeting them. Candidates often travel abroad to meet with leaders for photo-ops.

Unless the conversation is a specific attempt tho defraud United States, it is not a crime AFAIK. But then I am not a DC lawyer. But even I know that obstruction to justice is a crime by statute.

50 years ago I was learning to drive, and did not pull to the side to allow a cop car with flashing lights to pass, and he gave me a ticket for obstruction of justice! The judge threw out the charge in traffic court when I explained to him I was a new immigrant. He gave me a lecture to learn the laws here and let me off without a fine.

[Stallion]

6. Mueller Has Already Cited 18 USC 371 in His Indictments of 13 Russians-Among Others

if he finds that Americans including Trump and his team committed an overt act in furtherance of the object of the conspiracy-say Roger Stone or Paul Mannaford- it would be a simple matter of amending that same complaint to add them as a Defendant in that conspiracy and each could be held criminally liable even though Stone and Mannaford did not hack the Democratic computers for example

https://www.justice.gov/file/1035477/download

[quartz007]

7. Not that I heard..from NYT---

"Mr. Manafort exaggerated his income by millions of dollars to take out mortgages on homes in SoHo and the Hamptons that he had purchased years earlier in part with income illegally funneled through offshore bank accounts, according to the indictment. The laundered money — which totaled $30 million — came from Mr. Manafort’s work as a lobbyist and political consultant to Viktor F. Yanukovych, the Russia-aligned former Ukrainian president."

---NYTimes excerpt

[Stallion]

10. Read the Link to Actual Indictments against 13 Russians (see Upper Right Hand Corner of First Page

and throughout the pleading alleging a conspiracy in violation of 18 USC 371. That indictment could easily amended to add additional parties if they committed an act in further of the conspiracy alleged therein. Example-Stone could be added if he intentionally acted to obtain or publish the hacked Democratic e-mails

https://www.justice.gov/file/1035477/download

[Bernardo de La Paz]

9. Conspiracy covers much more than fraud. Nice try minimizing the scope of Mueller's investigation. nt

[Hassler]

12. !!!

[FakeNoose]

14. Oooh, burn

[quartz007]

15. Waiting for Mueller's investigation to produce results

In the meanwhile Rump is running full speed out of control dismantling EPA and giving the green light to pollute air and water, giving huge tax breaks to the richest 1%, killing mandate requirement of ACA, appointing neocons like Bolton to effect foreign policy, never saying a bad word about his buddy the dictator of Russia Vladimir Putin, starting a trade war with our trading partners, trying to defund Planned Parenthood, on and on.

Without seeing significant results by Mueller after 11 months, you bet I am losing patience.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

16. Trump bad. But if the investigation is not properly done, the long term impact will be worse.

If the investigation is not done carefully and thoroughly and deeply, then the RepubliCons will get away with their con game and will keep doing it again and again. Then you'll have Trumpx2 and Trump2.1 and worse down the decades.

I remain patient because I know the stakes are very high.

[quartz007]

18. You have way more patience than me, I understand that

but what I do not like is Mueller has allowed Rump to operate unimpeded at full speed. I wish he would drag his ass in court or a grand jury and slow down his actions. If this investigation lasts beyond the coming election, too much damage will have been done and will be harder to reverse. Mueller has to cause a nervous breakdown for Rump by indicting his son-in-law or his son before the 2018 election.

[triron]

19. Guess i am with you on this. It is that Trump is able to romp free while Mueller quietly

investigates. Makes me ill.

[Stallion]

5. Mueller Has Alreay Indicted Several Defendants for a Conspiracy to Defraud the United States

the fact that politicians discuss matters with foreigners is irrelevant if they meet the statutory definition of conspiracy. Expect many more charges alleging a conspiracy to violate criminal statutes and defraud the United States

[BobTheSubgenius]

11. Conspiracy laws are very, very powerful.

Making everyone within a conspiracy equally culpable for acts committed - even without their knowledge, let alone participation - can really sort out the weak from the strong among the members. Flip the weak one(s) and roll up everyone else.

[sharedvalues]

13. And the Rosenstein scope letter uses collusion

Rosenstein letter from Aug 2017. Authorizes Mueller to oursue Manafort for “collusion “.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

8. Good catch. Thanks. . . . nt

[triron]

17. knr