Another one bites the dust
Unless the judge overrules Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s recommendation, which is unlikely, yet another top Donald Trump adviser just got his ticket punched to prison. Trump has tried to write off George Papadopoulos as a mere coffee boy for the campaign, but in reality he was a key foreign policy adviser who answered directly to some of the top officials in the campaign. Now he’s headed behind bars – and that trend is just getting started.
For those confused or disappointed by the fact that Papadopoulos is only going to prison for six months, keep in mind that getting a comparatively light punishment for your crimes is literally the definition of a plea deal. This is what getting off easy looks like. Compare that to Paul Manafort, who – even if he’s convicted this week on a fraction of the numerous felony charges against him – will never spend another day of his life outside of prison.
It’s a reminder to the public that in the end, no one who broke any law in the Trump-Russia scandal is going to get away with it. Ludicrous memos aren’t going to slow down the prosecution, because the legal system doesn’t care about far-right House GOP propaganda. Magic pardons aren’t going to save anyone, because that’s not how pardons work. Perhaps most importantly, trying to deceive Robert Mueller is always going to blow up in your face. Papadopoulos could be looking at zero to one month in prison, instead of six months, if he hadn’t been partially dishonest during his time as a cooperating witness.
This is also a reminder to Donald Trump that there’s nowhere to run and nowhere to hide. The criminal prosecution of the worst criminal conspiracy in American history is just going to keep picking people off until there’s no one left but Trump and his family. No wonder Trump is acting even more berserk than usual of late. Even he must be coming to understand, on his comparatively lucid days, that he has no way out of this.
