Fresh off his self-proclaimed “victory” in Singapore, where he made numerous concessions to North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un, Donald Trump returned to the United States and was immediately hit with a triple dose of bad news on the Russiagate story.
On Tuesday and Wednesday, Special Counsel Robert Mueller made new court filings that indicate he’s about to turn up the heat on Trump and others in the Russia probe who haven’t yet been indicted or agreed to cooperate.
First we have the Tuesday filing of a motion to get a protective order that will limit the evidence sharing Mueller and his team have to make with any of the 13 Russian individuals or entities who have already been indicted by the special counsel. That means Mueller is preparing to use what he knows about these Russian criminals in order to get more arrest warrants for suspects here in the United States, and he doesn’t want anyone to have a heads up.
Then, on Wednesday, Mueller filed a request in federal district court asking for 75 blank subpoenas in the case he’s pursuing against former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort:
NOW: #Manafort Update: #Mueller has filed a request in a Virginia federal court for 150 blank subpoenas or 75 sets to be available on first day of trial in Va (July 25) The request is short on details. More soon. https://t.co/BmLErdxIvK
— Brandi Buchman (@BBuchman_CNS) June 13, 2018
That’s a hell of a lot of subpoenas for any prosecutor to ask for, and it’s very bad news for Manafort, whose trial begins in Washington, D.C. on July 25. Manafort will likely have his bail revoked on Friday and wind up behind bars until his trial starts next month. And that means he’ll have every incentive to cooperate with Mueller, unless he’d rather spend the rest of his life in prison.
Also on Wednesday, Trump’s former attorney, Michael Cohen, woke up to news that his attorneys have dumped him. That greatly increases the chances that Cohen will also agree to turn on Trump and tell what he knows (and he knows plenty!) about the Donald’s business dealings over the years, including business deals in Russia.
Oh, and if all that wasn’t bad enough news for Trump, there’s also this, which also comes from the protective order Mueller filed:
“The evidence in this case will also include numerous reports and affidavits filed in connection with this investigation that describe investigative steps, identify uncharged co-conspirators, and disclose various law enforcement and intelligence collection techniques.”
Translation: Mueller is just getting warmed up, and he’s about to increase the heat on anyone associated with Donald Trump who might have even a shred of evidence against the president.
Mark today — June 13, 2018 — as the day Donald Trump’s impeachment, indictment, and removal from office went from the investigative stage to a rock solid criminal case against the president.