Yesterday in Newsweek; Trump is financially compromised by Russia
In response to:
Donald Trump Is 'Financially Compromised' by Russia. Mueller Didn't Investigate but Congress Must: Ex-Federal Prosecutor
By Alexandra Hutzler On 4/13/19 at 7:10 AM EDT
While special counsel Robert Mueller’s two-year probe may not have established conspiracy between Donald Trump’s campaign and Russia during the 2016 election, it did not dive nearly deep enough into the president’s relationship with the foreign power.
In fact, it barely scratched the surface, according to former federal prosecutor and counterintelligence expert Kenneth McCallion. McCallion once represented former Ukraine Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko in her civil case against former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort in the Southern District of New York. The case served as a basis for Mueller's indictments of Manafort and former Trump campaign aide Rick Gates.
“I would not have much difficulty, nor would most experienced prosecutors, given what evidence is available now, prosecuting Mr. Trump,” McCallion told Newsweek shortly after Attorney General William Barr handed over his summary of the Mueller report to Congress.
“I think that may still happen—it may not happen immediately, but time will tell,” he added.
McCallion, who spent the early part of his 40-year legal career working as a federal prosecutor for the Department of Justice, had a front-row seat in the 1980s watching then-real estate mogul Trump elude investigators looking into corrupt “sweetheart deals” between mob-controlled labor unions and developers.
It came as no surprise to McCallion when he did it again throughout the Mueller investigation, attacking the probe as a “witch hunt” and refusing to do more than provide written answers to questions posed by the special counsel.
“Both Trump and [his attorney] Roy Cohn went through the motions of cooperating, but Trump continued to adamantly deny that he had this corrupt deal,” McCallion recalled, adding that in the end he got “no real cooperation” from either Trump or Cohn. Eventually, the duo were given a pass as the department focused on taking down bigger felons.
But it was there that the former prosecutor first noted the connection between Trump and Russian organized crime leaders, who, McCallion said, essentially provided him with enough money and labor to keep his real estate empire afloat.
That business relationship turned political when Trump became the Republican nominee for president. Since then, the former federal prosecutor argues, there is a case to be made that the president has “aided and abetted” Russia to the harm of U.S. interest out of financial obligation—treasonous behavior that was not explored in the special counsel’s investigation.
That case is laid out in McCallion’s upcoming book Treason & Betrayal: The Rise and Fall of Individual-1, which will be released on April 15.
The book provides a detailed analysis of Trump’s murky relationship with a foreign power, breaking down moments in which Trump has decided to walk a pro-Russian line (often in contradiction to U.S. interests) both throughout his campaign and during his presidency. It also makes the argument for how and why a sitting president can be indicted or impeached.
McCallion does not mince words in Treason & Betrayal, describing the president as “traitor to the traditional American democratic ideals” who “must be removed as soon as possible before he can do more harm."
“Eventually Trump, either as a sitting president or as a private citizen, will find out that he is not above the law and will be held accountable for his duplicity and his aiding and abetting of Russia,” McCallion said.
Donald Trump Is 'Financially Compromised' by Russia. Mueller Didn't Investigate but Congress Must: Ex-Federal Prosecutor
By Alexandra Hutzler On 4/13/19 at 7:10 AM EDT
While special counsel Robert Mueller’s two-year probe may not have established conspiracy between Donald Trump’s campaign and Russia during the 2016 election, it did not dive nearly deep enough into the president’s relationship with the foreign power.
In fact, it barely scratched the surface, according to former federal prosecutor and counterintelligence expert Kenneth McCallion. McCallion once represented former Ukraine Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko in her civil case against former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort in the Southern District of New York. The case served as a basis for Mueller's indictments of Manafort and former Trump campaign aide Rick Gates.
“I would not have much difficulty, nor would most experienced prosecutors, given what evidence is available now, prosecuting Mr. Trump,” McCallion told Newsweek shortly after Attorney General William Barr handed over his summary of the Mueller report to Congress.
“I think that may still happen—it may not happen immediately, but time will tell,” he added.
McCallion, who spent the early part of his 40-year legal career working as a federal prosecutor for the Department of Justice, had a front-row seat in the 1980s watching then-real estate mogul Trump elude investigators looking into corrupt “sweetheart deals” between mob-controlled labor unions and developers.
It came as no surprise to McCallion when he did it again throughout the Mueller investigation, attacking the probe as a “witch hunt” and refusing to do more than provide written answers to questions posed by the special counsel.
“Both Trump and [his attorney] Roy Cohn went through the motions of cooperating, but Trump continued to adamantly deny that he had this corrupt deal,” McCallion recalled, adding that in the end he got “no real cooperation” from either Trump or Cohn. Eventually, the duo were given a pass as the department focused on taking down bigger felons.
But it was there that the former prosecutor first noted the connection between Trump and Russian organized crime leaders, who, McCallion said, essentially provided him with enough money and labor to keep his real estate empire afloat.
That business relationship turned political when Trump became the Republican nominee for president. Since then, the former federal prosecutor argues, there is a case to be made that the president has “aided and abetted” Russia to the harm of U.S. interest out of financial obligation—treasonous behavior that was not explored in the special counsel’s investigation.
That case is laid out in McCallion’s upcoming book Treason & Betrayal: The Rise and Fall of Individual-1, which will be released on April 15.
The book provides a detailed analysis of Trump’s murky relationship with a foreign power, breaking down moments in which Trump has decided to walk a pro-Russian line (often in contradiction to U.S. interests) both throughout his campaign and during his presidency. It also makes the argument for how and why a sitting president can be indicted or impeached.
McCallion does not mince words in Treason & Betrayal, describing the president as “traitor to the traditional American democratic ideals” who “must be removed as soon as possible before he can do more harm."
“Eventually Trump, either as a sitting president or as a private citizen, will find out that he is not above the law and will be held accountable for his duplicity and his aiding and abetting of Russia,” McCallion said.
(continued in my first comment below)
Comments (10)
If it's easy for you, it must be easier for anyone in Congress. Somebody must not want to do it.
K - Yeah, that somebody was Mueller. Congress likely will pick up the ball and do it,
after it gets to see the full Mueller report.
Having a Russian operative in the Whitehouse disrupting the American way and causing damage to the country, does not make me happy.
The deeper one digs, the more dirt there is on Trump.
He is extremely dishonest and a fraud.
His own lawyers determined that he is incapable of being a witness,
because he simply can't tell the truth. He has deceived MANY people.