I see reason for optimism behind the length of time the jury had taken thus far. There are, what, 18 counts against Manafort, each of them an abstruse white collar crime, each no doubt containing numerous elements the prosecution had to prove beyond a reasonable doubt in order to convict. If even just one element were found not proven BARD for a count, the jury could toss the count and move on to the next one. That they’ve taken this long tells me they’re finding a number of elements proven beyond a reasonable doubt. Manafort is going to lose big; Trump will then lose big too, but the republic will go on.
I’m intrigued by this Steve Calk character. Talk about dereliction of duty! What consequences has he faced?
should’ve gone to Creeque Alley and waited for Cass to show up
Calk’s time in the barrel is likely coming up. Note he was not called as witness nor given transactional immunity. He’s dead calk walking.
One of the things that the whole sorry, sordid mess that is Trump-swampia is showing is what the true price is for our collective failure to aggressively prosecute white collar money crimes. Preet Bharara was ask on Bill Maher’s Real Time how Trump could have operated as he did in NYC real estate for so long without triggering any serious criminal investigation. His answer of “my bad” should have been “our bad” since the public has not really cared about such crimes. Until we insist that law enforcement and DA’s pursue these types of criminals with the same zeal that we insist that they pursue a convenience store robber we are going to continue to breed a class of crooks that not only believe that they can game the system to their financial advantage but that they are entitled to do so. #AllCrimesMatter {steps down from soap box}
The media totally misses the fact that Paul Manafort and his organized crime family from Conn. have been doing business with Trump for nearly 30 YEARS! Manafort was associated with Trump and the mob when Trump got his 2 Atlantic City Casinos! The Manafort’s have been a very powerful organized crime family in Conn. for years: with their construction company and their control over the trash disposal business in the state.
Manafort and Trump and their ties to the US Mob and the Russian mob are very well established.
Correct. Calk’s in for a long fall. I think he was also a major shareholder in the bank he worked at. Talk about being broke (defense team), busted (no wiggle room and he can’t plead ignorance), and disgusted - love to see his wife’s face. Living large, living the dream, all gone.
It’s remarkable how completely mainstream Republican so many of Manafort’s alleged crimes are. Commingling funds, kiting checks and keeping multiple sets of books to show the lenders, the investors, the truth and the IRS, are all squarely within the toolkit of every merchant, barkeep, hotelier and general contractor who Stands for Scott Walker, as that particular bastard’s campaign sings say.
When Republicans talk about Manafort being singled out unfairly because of his political activity, this is where they’re coming from: a position of committing many of those same crimes themselves on a daily basis, with the knowledge and expectation that they won’t get caught because nobody checks where Joe Sixpack drives the company car of Small Potatoes, LLC.
Manafort could walk today, but his world is now an open book. He will not do business as usual ever again. That is not an attempt at finding solace in the events things go upside down. He is unmasked and so is a lot of how these people operate in general. Consider Manafort’s legal bills, current financials and his ability to earn an income even close to supporting this wildly over priced yet tacky lifestyle.
I also look at the idea that guilty verdicts makes a person more diligent in being sure it is the right decision than a not guilty.
@josh. Shouldn’t the headline be, “Steal a little and they throw you in jail. Steal a lot and they make you a king.”
If you are referring to Calk’s wife she has already filed for divorce, and asked for financials from the bank-ouch.
Just think of him trying to sell his Trump property now.
What is the current asking price for a used Ostrich Jacket at the local pawn shop?
Thanks for posting this - it’s something I have been ranting about too - don’t forget income tax evasion too - white collar crime is a lot bigger than street crime but it gets no attention.
He’s in a spot of trouble, yes.
Prosecutors have called him a co-conspirator.
@fgs Corporate criminality is what most Republicans refer to as freedom these days, and the laws against cheating markets and profiting from external costs they increasingly view as oppression. Worse yet, they have exploited the complexity behind grasping the real concept of law and order essential for the wealth of nations in order to deceive the common man into viewing protections from cheating as a form of oppression. The problem in this country goes beyond the lack of enforcement and involves an ideological maligning of sensible pro-meritocratic policy that protects society against a kleptocratic order. The conservative who professed to believe in “earning” is long gone. Now it’s always an Enron, an uneven field, that they embrace, and the fewer the ethics, the better .
you British?
