Manafort and Cohen Guilty: Does Trump Go Down Now?

Yesterday's news produced two bombshells. First, former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort was convicted of eight counts of tax evasion, tax fraud and bank fraud. Minutes later, former Trump attorney and "fixer" (number one henchman responsible for making embarrassing things disappear) Michael Cohen pled guilty to eight counts of tax fraud, bank fraud and campaign finance fraud. Most important to the case against Trump in Cohen's plea was his disclosure that the campaign finance fraud was knowingly committed "at the direction of a candidate for federal office," in other words, Trump.

Personally, I feel there's plenty of evidence that proves Trump committed obstruction of justice numerous times, enough to justify impeachment and conviction. And as with yesterday, more shoes keep dropping all the time. But what happens from here depends on how the final Mueller report is written. If the report names Trump as a co-conspirator in obstruction with clear and simple evidence then he will be impeached and will go down. If it doesn't then he won't. 

Does Cohen have more recordings showing Trump conspiring with him to commit illegalities? Is there another witness to corroborate that Trump directed the illegal campaign hush money payments Cohen pled to? Does Mueller give the weight I do to Trump's lying cover stories about the Trump Tower meeting with the Russian agents, and does he have witnesses willing to testify to Trump's knowing fabrication of these lies? Does Trump's admission to NBC anchor Lester Holt on national TV that he fired James Comey because of "the Russia thing" signify the intent to quash an investigation getting too close to home to Mueller as it does to me? If the answers are yes then this venial mobster is on his way out. If the report is less damning then he may be able to ride this out and continue to thrive on the chaos for another couple of years. Remember, it's got to be decisive enough that at least 16 GOP senators are willing to vote to convict a president of their own party who is still popular with the party's base.

Trump Attempts to Stifle Criticism

This week President Trump revoked the security clearance of former CIA Director John Brennan specifically because Brennan criticizes the President and presented evidence to him that Russia interfered in the 2016 election. Brennan responded by writing a New York Times Op-Ed titled, “President Trump’s Claims of No Collusion Are Hogwash.”   As a result, more than a dozen former top U.S. intelligence officials issued a statement in solidarity with Brennan that denounced Trump’s “ill-considered and unprecedented remarks and actions.”   Retired Navy Admiral William H. McRaven, who oversaw the raid that killed Osama bin Laden, joined the conversation, writing a letter to Trump defending Brennan in the Washington Post. “I would consider it an honor if you would revoke my security clearance as well,” wrote McRaven, “so I can add my name to the list of men and women who have spoken up against your presidency.”