Robert Mueller begins handing out Trump-Russia obstruction of justice charges
As Robert Mueller has spent the past week bringing surprise criminal indictments against Trump-Russia scandal participants all around the world, it’s been easy to forget about the ongoing obstruction of justice case he’s been building against Donald Trump. But now Mueller is reminding us of that in a big way, as he’s begun handing out the first of the obstruction charges against Trump’s advisers. Based upon the speed at which things are now moving, plenty more obstruction charges are likely on the way.
Mueller has now brought so many criminal charges against former Trump campaign adviser Paul Manafort, it’s difficult to keep track of them all. Today Mueller filed new criminal charges against Manafort for having obstructed justice while Donald Trump was in the White House, according to an on-air report today by MSNBC’s Ari Melber. Manafort was not officially working for Trump at that time, but it’s long been widely reported that Trump and Manafort were speaking by phone during this time about the investigation.
In other words, Robert Mueller appears to be charging Manafort with obstruction of justice based on the conversations he was having with Donald Trump. This tells us two things. First, Mueller is even closer to nailing Trump on obstruction of justice than we thought.
Second, Mueller has shown today that he’s willing to charge any and all Trump advisers who conspired with Trump to obstruct justice. Based on what’s been reported up to now, that includes half the senior advisers in the White House. It’s time for them to come in and cut their plea deals while they still can.
