Rudy Giuliani Wouldn’t Do Very Well In Jail

This has nothing to do with the story but has anyone ever noticed how much Rudy looks like the vampire from the 1922 silent film, “Nosferatu?” I’m not pointing that out to mock Rudy, but to say that he rose to be the top Federal prosecutor of the Southern District of New York (SDNY) on his talent as a lawyer, not his good looks.

If you only know Giuliani from his television interviews where he contradicts himself repeatedly and lies on behalf of his maybe still client Donald Trump. Trump was asked if Giuliani who’s found himself on the hot seat was still his lawyer. The answer was less than clear.

It’s been reported by CNN and the New York Times that Rudy is under investigation for among other things, lobbying violations of the type that have tripped up many a Trump associate including Michael Flynn and Paul Manafort. It can’t help that two of Giuliani’s associates were just arrested trying to leave the country with one-way tickets, charged with federal campaign finance violations. The men had been working with Giuliani trying to dig up dirt on Democrat Presidential candidate Joe Biden and his son Hunter.

Before Rudy was Trump’s tv lawyer, before he was Mayor of New York, he was appointed US Attorney for SDNY where he handled a number of high profile mob cases. In a close to two-year trial, the Mafia Commission Case, Rudy put away three of the heads of the Five-Families using RICO charges to seal the deal. The mob allegedly put a hit out on Rudy which extended into his first year as Mayor. Some of the people Rudy put away are still in jail and still pissed. It’s ironic that the SDNY that Giuliani once led is the office now investigating him.

Putting aside for a moment the guilt or innocence of Giuliani. If he is convicted, he wouldn’t find jail a very friendly place. He’s made more than a few enemies along the way. Besides the crime families (who have been known to hold a grudge(, there’s the Haitians who might remember the time Rudy fought against Haitian refugees seeking asylum. He was working in Ronald Reagan’s Justice Department then whose immigration policies with regard to brown and black people were little different than the current resident of the Oval Office. Rudy has been a spokesman for Trump’s immigration policies and he might end up housed with people who resent his defense of caged brown children in horrific conditions. Imagine if Rudy decides to cut a deal with prosecutors and flip on his client that will no doubt have thrown him under the bus long before the metal doors clang shut.

Rudy has lived fairly well in his adult life. When Mayor he lived in Gracie Mansion (except when he moved out when he couldn’t move his mistress in). He’s stayed in Trump’s luxury resorts and now lives in a $3.5 million estate in Water Mill, NY. Even if he goes to a relatively nice Club Fed facility, the views will be nothing like he’s accustomed to.

Gracie Mansion

I imagine ex-prosecutors can’t get on the friends & family plan in prison. He likely still has friends throughout the Justice Dept (though they might be hesitant to cross Trump) and they might assist him with his placement. If he can just find a prison without mobsters, Haitians, Hispanics, blacks, Democrats, and Republicans. He might do just fine?

Ukraine is Important- Impeach Trump – Don’t Forget to Follow the Money!

Democrats in the House of Representatives have finally gotten traction against Donald Trump. Revelations of his conversation with Ukranian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in which he requested multiple times Ukraine investigate Joe Biden and his son Hunter. Along with moving transcripts of that conversation along with those with Soviet leader Vladimir Putin and Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, seems to have done the trick. The narrative was simple, Trump traded our national security for his personal political interest; holding up $391 million in military aid approved by Congress unless he “did us a favor” and investigated the Biden’s to hurt Joe’s bid as a contender in the 2020 Presidential Election.

Add to that, revelations that Trump in the Oval Office told two Russians he was “unconcerned” about Russian interference in the 2016 Election because “we do it all the time in other countries,” was simple enough that the White House has yet to issue a response two days later. Surrogates on the Sunday shows twisted themselves in knots trying to defend the President. Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy literally denied Trump said what the White House released transcript admitted he said. Stephen Miller pointed to the “deep state” and cited his vast knowledge after three years in government. Lindsey Graham forgot everything he learned in law school by discounting, “second-hand” information, forgetting his own reliance on Linda Tripp during the Clinton Impeachment.

Most of all, the public has reacted to the Ukraine information with a majority of Americans, 55% according to recent polls, now supporting an Impeachment investigation. Nancy Pelosi has indicated the focus of the investigation will be Ukraine and national security which is understandable, but it’s critical not to take their eye off the ball and ignore Trump’s finances which is what Trump clearly has been trying to keep from the view of Democrats and the American public.

As rewarding and the Ukrainian line of inquiry has been. Expecting Republican Senators to vote against Trump in an Impeachment trial based on moving documents to a different server and disobeying the Presidential Records Act is expecting more that they’ve demonstrated they should be credited for. Their ability to ignore the Quid Pro Quo in Trump’s suggestion Ukraine investigate Biden cannot be underestimated, especially after listening to Lindsay Graham, Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee put Tump above both Party and Country. What will be needed, is to remind the public, that not only is Trump a lawless traitor, he’s also a crook, which is why the ball shouldn’t be dropped on following the money.

AT this moment, Trump’s personal financial information and that of The Trump Organization is being sought by various Congressional committees, the State of New York, a Manhattan District Attorney, the State of California, and various private groups suing Trump. Trump has gone to extreme lengths to keep that information secret including ignoring subpoenas, instructing the IRS not to comply with rules about providing taxpayer information to the Ways & Means Committee. Trump has sued his banks and accountants to keep them from complying with legally issued subpoenas. He’s using the Malcolm X approach to keep his finances secret… “by any means necessary.”

We’ve heard testimony from Michael Cohen that Trump used fraudulent financial data to secure loans or get better insurance rates. Ivanka and Don, Jr had criminal fraud charges dropped after a Trump attorney visited the Manhattan District Attorney and later made a huge donation to his campaign fund. The Trump Foundation has been shut down as a fraudulent charity. The Trump Organization has been accused of money laundering, and there have been multiple suspicious real estate transactions Trump and his sons once bragged about with Russia and Saudi Arabia. There seems to be fertile ground to uncover illegal activity once the financial records are reviewed. This is no time to give up and chase the shiny Ukranian object.

Yes, Ukraine is important, Trump’s secret conversations with Putin and MBS equally so. But follow the money; in all likelihood it will lead to proof of multiple other crimes, equally understandable by the public and impossible for Republican senators to ignore.

Republicans Can Rid Us Of This Meddlesome President

They all hate him. They fear being on the butt end of one of his tweets, or perhaps him backing a primary candidate against them for a perceived slight. They wake up each morning scanning Twitter to see what new position they must adopt and defend that they had never previously considered before Trump said it. Many are morally opposed to him, others just want their soul back.

Unexpectedly an opportunity has come to be rid of this menace. All because of a whistleblower complaint that exposed him blackmailing/bribing Ukraine to investigate old charges against Joe Biden and his son Hunter that were long ago investigated and dismissed. In a way only Donald Trump and Rudy Guiliani could have managed. They got caught, lied about it, and changed their story multiple times before White House notes of a phone call between President Donald Trump and Ukranian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy showing Trump committing a felony, implicating Attorney General William Barr to boot.

Trump being Trump, he initially refused to turn over the transcript of the phone call and the whistleblower which by law was supposed to be turned over to the relevant committees in Congress. Finally showing a spine after allowing countless Trump lackeys to ignore subpoenas or refuse to testify or turn over documents. Nancy Pelosi announced a formal Impeachment Inquiry into the President’s behavior. Trump kept announcing his phone call was “perfect.” Leaving him no legitimate explanation as to why then he couldn’t turn over the transcript? Within hours of the transcript being released to the public and the whistleblower report given to the leadership in Congress. Democrats had the 218 votes required to vote for an Impeachment and a trial to be conducted by the Republican-controlled Senate. With more misdeeds by Trump becoming public by the day, that the House will take that Impeachment vote is nearly certain. Then it’s up to the Republicans in the Senate to decide what they’re going to do?

It takes a two-thirds majority vote to find the President guilty in the Senate and evict him from office. Twice before it was attempted with Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton; each previous attempt failed. Richard Nixon resigned before Impeachment after Republican Senator’s came to him explaining he didn’t have the votes to survive. While it appears that this group of Republicans won’t ever turn on the President. This is their one chance to rid themselves of this lunatic on grounds of national security or perhaps just fatigue.

If they vote to get rid of Trump in the Senate, they could make their first claim to have acted honorably, in the interest of the Republic, since Trump took office. They could claim they put Country before Party, no man is above the law, throw in a few words like truth, justice, and the American way. A group that hasn’t exactly covered themselves in glory as they stayed silent when children were caged and white supremacists roamed the White House can finally stand up and be heard.

The inevitable Impeachment trial in the Senate will be conducted by the Senate Judiciary Chairman Lindsay Graham. The former best friend of the late John McCain used to consider himself and hope to be seen as an honorable man. In the past two years he’s gone against much he once believed in, siding with a President way too close to Russia, a country Graham once considered the enemy. Lindsay has turned the other way when Trump cheats at golf and on his wives. He’s dishonored his longtime friend John McCain and made a mockery of his legacy. This will be his last chance to square things with McCain, his PArty, and the American public.

Don’t count out the possibility that Trump could be convicted in the Senate. Their calculation has been that as long as Trump held a significant approval rating with his base, they couldn’t afford to turn against him. We’ve now gotten to the point that did in Nixon. Televised congressional hearings with negative information coming out daily. Then repeated on 24-hour cable news networks. Any sign that the base is leaving Trump and the Senate may well turn on him. We will see?

Will Paul Manafort Run?

Paul Manafort has basically been under house arrest while awaiting two trials to start later this year. He is scheduled to begin trial in Alexandria, VA on July 24, 2018, on charges of bank fraud and tax crimes and in September in Washington D.C. on charges including; conspiracy, bank and tax fraud, money laundering and failing to register as a lobbyist. Manafort is wearing two ankle bracelets and has been appealing to the courts to loosen the restrictions on him which basically require him to remain home, with exceptions for medical and legal appointments. The Special Counsel has just made a motion to the Washington D.C. judge to remove him from the supervised house arrest program and wait for his trials to start in jail because of attempts at witness tampering and suborning perjury, according to a filing in the DC Court.

Manafort, the former Campaign Manager for Donald Trump has connections in multiple foreign countries that may not extradite him were he able to get there. He has long ago surrendered his passport but a desperate man with means and friends in the right places might be able to go far if given the chance? To this point, he’s resisted pressure to flip on Donald Trump regarding activities of which he may have knowledge. Perhaps trading his luxury apartment for a small cell might make him reconsider?

There’s probably no good time to go to prison, at 69 years old, Manafort seems unlikely to thrive in that environment. He’s used to $5,000 suits and fine dining. Nothing about his life has prepared him for even Federal prison where things are a bit more lax. This was not how Manafort planned to live out his final years, so what to do now?

He hasn’t been inclined thus far to take a deal. My impression of Manafort is far more Goodfella than an astute businessman. Some of his former associates might not take too well to the thought of Manafort providing evidence to the State. He might see flipping as a death sentence? Of course in prison, he’d still be a threat as one day he might decide he’s had enough and make that deal after the fact. The one other option… is to run.

It seems his every move has been tracked by the FBI to this point. The judge will be ruling on the motion at any time which could send him to prison in days if not hours. A hearing will likely be scheduled, giving Manafort a chance to explain his actions. If things go badly, he might be whisked away from the courtroom, perhaps experiencing freedom for the last time?

The odds are likely against him. He’s being monitored, his apartment likely watched. Nowhere in the country would be safe, his every communication is reviewed. Who would even dare to help him? Part of the evidence against him regarding witness tampering was from the people he reached out to. Paul has always been a gambler though, high stakes risks with potentially great rewards. He might just give it a try. After all, what’s the alternative?