Mueller Time! Special counsel plays another card that should freak Trump out
We now know one of the specific reasons Specoal Counsel Robert Mueller ordered last July’s raid on Paul Manafort’s home and offices:
Paul Manafort was raided by the FBI to look for documents relating to the Trump Tower meeting in June 2016 with Russian lobbyists, which was brokered by Donald Trump Jr. …
[Manafort] attended the Trump Tower meeting, at which a Russian lawyer with links to the Kremlin and a former Soviet counterintelligence officer were also present, while running the presidential campaign. They allegedly promised dirt on Trump’s rival, Hillary Clinton.
According to the latest court filing by the Mueller inquiry, which is defending a warrant attached to a raid on Manafort’s home in July 2017, part of what the FBI were hunting for were “communications, records, documents, and other files involving any of the attendees of the June 9, 2016 meeting at Trump Tower, as well as Aras and [Emin] Agalarov.”
The court filing in question was made in response to motions by Manafort’s legal team concerning the raid on a storage space rented by Manafort.
There are three big takeaways from this revelation:
1) Mueller and his team do not tip their hand, and his legal team only plays his cards when need be. This revelation confirms informed speculation that reaches back to the day of the raid.
2) The revelation also indirectly ratchets up pressure on Manafort to cooperate, but given the — well, unpleasant nature of Manafort’s Russian and Ukranian business pals, he may feel strong pressure to keep his mouth shut.
3) No collusion. Riiiiight. It’s a lead-pipe conch that Mueller already had compelling evidence of dirty dealings at the notorious “Trump Tower meeting” before the raid.
Trump had best be very worried. His Fredoesue eldest son is clearly in Mueller’s sites.
