In the midst of the swirling “Trump/Russia” collusion story and what is being dubbed “Indictment Monday”, names started to become revealed. Paul Manafort and his cohort, Rick Gates plead “not guilty” to the charges that Robert Mueller’s special council was investigating. These charges included money laundering, tax fraud, and foreign lobbying violations.
Tony Podesta, from The Podesta Group, who represented Fusion GPS and Uranium One (The organization who sold their uranium resources to the Russian government, allowing Russia to control 20% of our Uranium resources. A deal allowed under the Obama Administration and with the aide of Hillary Clinton’s State Department, who received a sizable donation to the Clinton Foundation along with a hefty speaking fee for Bill Clinton himself) was also caught up in this investigation. Mr. Podesta decided to step down from his position with The Podesta Group, an organization which Paul Manafort was also involved. Anyone who’s followed me or listened to The Adrian Slade Show podcast knows that I’ve always said that Paul Manafort was key to much of these Russian narrative stories clouding the Trump Administration, even if they didn’t have any hardcore direct evidence of Russian collusion with their campaign.
Another name to appear was former Ben Carson adviser, George Papadopoulos.
The NY Times reported: “A professor with close ties to the Russian government told an adviser to Donald J. Trump’s presidential campaign in April 2016 that Moscow had “dirt” on Hillary Clinton in the form of “thousands of emails,” according to court documents unsealed Monday.
The adviser, George Papadopoulos, has pleaded guilty to lying to the F.B.I. about that conversation. The plea represents the most explicit evidence that the Trump campaign was aware that the Russian government was trying to help Mr. Trump and that the campaign was eager to accept that help.
As part of that effort, the Russian government hacked Democratic accounts and released a trove of embarrassing emails related to Mrs. Clinton’s campaign. The Trump campaign has repeatedly denied any inside knowledge about that.
“They have dirt on her,” the professor told Mr. Papadopoulos, according to the documents. “They have thousands of emails.”
Mr. Papadopoulos was quietly arrested at Washington Dulles Airport on July 27 and has since been cooperating with the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, records show. Mr. Papadopoulos’s conversation in April raises more questions about a subsequent meeting in June at Trump Tower, where Mr. Trump’s eldest son and senior advisers met with Russians who were similarly promising damaging information on Mrs. Clinton.
Papdopoulos plead guilty to the FBI today.
Keeping up yet? If not, don’t worry. Neither has Twitter…
The Twittersphere ERUPTED. And unfortunately, another George Papdopoulos was feeling the pain. Lesson here: not every “Blue Check Marks” are the droids you’re looking for…
Adrian Slade Show 