In considering the indictment of former Donald
Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and an associate, I am reminded of
former Bill Clinton aide and defender James Carville’s line about the
ability of a grand jury to “indict a ham sandwich.”
Manafort and a longtime business
partner, Rick Gates, pleaded not guilty to all 12 counts against them.
Manafort is under house arrest after posting an outrageously high bond
of $10 million. Gates’ bond was set at $5 million. George Papadopoulos,
who was a foreign policy advisor to the Trump campaign, has pleaded
guilty to making a false statement to the FBI about his foreign contacts
with several top Russian officials.
Predictably, the major media are celebrating this as the beginning of
the end of the nascent Trump presidency. Within hours of the announced
indictments, New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof rushed into print
with a column titled “Will Manafort Sing? If so, it may mark the
beginning of the end of this presidency.”
Look for more of this wishful thinking that the
establishment, the Democrats and all of the mainstream media have been
hoping for since Trump won the election.
What Manafort stands accused of has nothing to do with
the 2016 election, or with Russian “collusion.” No one, so far, has
produced any evidence the Russians affected the election’s outcome. This
is all about overturning the results and keeping “the swamp” full for
those who live in it and reject change.
Real collusion might be in the significant share of
U.S. uranium sold to the Russians during Hillary Clinton’s tenure as
secretary of state (she signed off on the deal), followed by a $500,000
fee paid to her husband for a speech in Moscow and the millions of
dollars that subsequently flowed into the Clinton Foundation from
uranium investors.
Special counsel Robert Mueller and Congress should
investigate that Russian connection, along with the role of the
Democratic National Committee and the Hillary Clinton campaign (and the
earlier Republican role) in creating an anti-Trump dossier that has been
shown to be a fraud and yet was used to justify the appointment of
Mueller. If the reason for Mueller’s appointment is fraudulent, how can
it be said that his investigation, which includes staff attorneys who
made donations to Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, is not tainted?
Among the many problems with this investigation is that
it has no legal, subject or monetary limits. If Mueller and his
associates are unable to prove collusion with the Russians, one can
count on them coming up with something else. Far-left members of
Congress, such as Maxine Waters, D-Calif., openly state that their
objective is to “take out” the president, and they don’t mean to lunch.
There is also the matter of leaks from the grand jury.
Not surprisingly, the details of the indictments matched the leak to
CNN. Unless that network employs mind readers and engages in paranormal
activity, those leaks are felonies and the leakers should be prosecuted.
Meanwhile, Republicans in Congress are firing up
investigations of their own, including long-overdue looks into various
questionable and possibly illegal activities by the Clintons. Congress
is the proper avenue for such investigations, not special counsels, who
can “go rogue” if they wish.
These seemingly endless accusations and investigations
are what so much of the country hates about Washington, the “D.C.” that
increasingly seems to stand for “dysfunctional city.”
No matter which party controls government, the other
party does all it can, by whatever means, to undermine those elected.
This behavior solves no problems. It is only about grabbing and holding
onto power.
Given the many moving parts in the Mueller probe and
the loss of focus on the primary reason for it, the government may have a
difficult time proving its case in court. But with unlimited funds and a
staff of lawyers who have Democratic affiliations, you can bet they
will try to make more than a ham sandwich out of it.
Cal Thomas is America's most widely syndicated op-ed columnist. His latest book is "What Works: Common Sense Solutions for a Stronger America". Readers may email Cal Thomas at tcaeditors@tribune.com.
