This is a breaking story.
Shortly after Special Counsel Robert Mueller announced that he was dismissing charges against former Trump campaign official Rick Gates, a very significant development in itself, Mueller’s team announced it was now going after Trump for his business dealings with Russia prior to the 2016 presidential election.
The news is likely to inflame President Trump, who stated that Mueller would be crossing a “red line” if he expanded his investigation into his businesses.
We’re not sure where the connection is, but the timing certainly implies that Gates is taking a plea deal for his cooperation against former Trump Campaign Manager Paul Manafort and Trump himself. Gates had to have provided something juicy because that is a lot of charges dropped, a pretty good deal for Gates.
Mueller, according to CNN who got wind of the report, is also honing in on when Trump decided to run for president, which directly ties in with his communications with the Russians.
What’s interesting about this is, not long ago, Trump himself tweeted that “Russia didn’t know” he was running for president, but evidence has already been leaked casting serious doubt on that claim.
Trump actually told Russia he would be running for president while he was in Moscow in November 2013, just months before Russia launched the anti-U.S. campaign in early 2014.
To make matters worse, there’s even a picture of Trump posted to Twitter on January 22, 2014, by a Russian oligarch’s ex-wife, Alferova Yulya, saying she thinks Trump will make a great president, further proving that he told them he would run during his trip with Russian interests.
According to Seth Abramson, Trump struck a deal in Moscow during his visit there and was photographed with his entourage, including Phil Ruffin, his ex-White House bodyguard Keith Schiller, and another unidentified person.
Here’s the other thing about Alferova Yulya. She wasn’t just the wife of an important businessman, she was an agent of the Russian government. Her official title still reads: “Advisor to the Minister of Economic Development.” That means she is a part of the Kremlin.
Here are photos of Trump and his entourage at that meeting:
Given this information, how can President Trump tweet out that the Russians didn’t know he was running for president? It’s just insane, and it’s a flat-out lie. It is documented on social media even, making Trump’s claim yesterday even more absurd.
According to Mueller’s latest indictment, the Russians engaged in a conspiracy against the United States in early 2014, meaning collusion hasn’t been ruled out yet. The official indictment used the word “unwitting” which basically means Trump campaign aides might not have known they were helping the Russians. But, that’s not referring to the Trump campaign as a whole, rather, that certain participants might have been unwitting.
Bottom line: President Trump himself is still being investigated, that’s all we know. And, we at least know he lied about the Russians not knowing he was running for president. That doesn’t look good for Trump.
