It was an extremely bad idea for Paul Manafort to get involved in a presidential campaign on the way to the nomination when he was sitting atop so much dirty laundry.

Unless of course, he had no choice. Read More

Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s first charges are reportedly against Paul Manafort and Rick Gates, who were told to surrender Monday morning, according to the New York Times.

Late Update: Everything we know so far.

In advance of whatever awaits us tomorrow from the Mueller probe, I want to share a few thoughts about what might be coming. I will discuss them seriatim. Read More

All but ten Houston Texans took a knee today for the national anthem after owners comment that “we can’t have the inmates running the prison.”

Stunned by the news of Mueller indictments coming as soon as Monday, Trump advisors get angry at Hillary, according to Politico.

The lack of information, on a case that could have major ramifications for the president, left many current and former Trump advisers livid, focusing their rage on how the information leaked and on a forever target: Hillary Clinton.

Damaged, infantile, dangerous people.

We know President Trump’s confidante Roger Stone is intemperate and aggressive. We also know he often blurts things out that end up being accurate or highly prescient. On August 21st, 2016, Stone tweeted: “Trust me, it will soon [be] Podesta’s time in the barrel.” A few weeks later (Oct. 7th, 2016), that’s just what happened. Wikileaks, with whom Stone had been in active and direct contact, began releasing thousands of Podesta’s stolen emails.

That’s not all we know. Read More

Cam Joseph talks to people close to Mitt Romney about what is animating his increasingly likely run for Senate, as Orrin Hatch leans toward retiring.

Backgrounder: The Plan to Fire Bob Mueller (sub req).

Not sure what to make of this. But it’s worth keeping an eye on. Read More

Now we know the “Republicans” who first funded Fusion GPS’s investigation of Donald Trump’s ties to Russia (before seeing him win the nomination and thus losing interest.) It was The Washington Free Beacon. Wait, you’re thinking, isn’t that a news site? Well, maybe, maybe not. We also learn the Beacon turns out to be funded “in large part” by GOP mega-donor Paul Singer. The Beacon reportedly frequently employs opposition researchers to drum up news stories. It did so in this case and was reportedly getting a lot of information about Trump’s ties to Russia. But when Trump secured the nomination they lost interest. Here’s the story.