GRAHAM: D.C. SWAMP STILL IN PLACE,
Media blinded by Russia but D.C.’s awash in scandal
The charges are shocking: Millions in foreign money — money that was supposed to be publicly disclosed — secretly flowing from Russia and into the account of an influential political partisan very close to the president, someone who could affect U.S./Russia policy, all while hiding financial connections to Moscow.
But enough about Hillary Clinton ...
No, I’m not saying Trump’s former campaign manager Paul Manafort is just like Hillary. Hillary would never have gotten caught.
What I am saying is that both of them are part of the reason decent, red-blooded Americans hate politics. They are partisan faces on the flip side of the same slimy coin: Turning government power into cold, hard cash.
Paul Manafort is a notorious, money-grubbing hack who’s been repeatedly investigated for decades. Manafort himself acknowledged he engaged in “influence peddling” for a living back in 1989 during congressional hearings into a scheme involving money that was supposed to go to low-income housing.
There was no client too sketchy or corrupt for him to represent (insert Donald Trump joke here). His former partner Roger Stone bragged that their firm “lined up most of the dictators of the world we could find . ... Dictators are in the eye of the beholder.”
As for yesterday’s indictments — that alleged money laundering has been under scrutiny since 2012. In other words, since before the previous presidential election.
And now we’re shocked ... shocked that this political hack has been indicted for crimes related to political hackery? And somehow this makes Trump guilty of — what? Hiring the same operative who worked with Gerald Ford, George
H.W. Bush, and Clinton pals John and Tony Podesta, just to name a few?
As Daily Beast columnist Matt Lewis tweeted yesterday: “If we’re worried about the incestuous ‘swamp,’ the fact Trump’s campaign chair AND the brother of Hillary’s chair were lobbying partners ... ” Exactly.
It’s bizarre to watch the Trumpobsessed media desperately search for a Russian-related crime or scandal when Washington, D.C., is awash in corruption waiting to be reported. Buzzfeed — the only media outlet shameless enough to publish the bogus, unconfirmed politicalporn in the infamous “Russia Dossier” — posted a story yesterday headlined, “The Open Secrets Of the Russia Story.” Editor Ben Smith acknowledges that there’s no evidence that any of it has anything to do with Donald Trump colluding with Russia. But then he adds: “But we do know what the candidate said on stage in Florida last July: ‘Russia, if you’re listening, I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing.’ ” Really? That’s “collusion?” Asking Russia to release the infamous emails that Hillary improperly (and possibly illegally) destroyed and then BleachBit?
Hey, Buzzfeed: Trump just asked for dirt from Russia. Hillary Clinton and the DNC paid a guy to go get it. And he in turn paid Russian agents with links to Vladimir Putin to give it up. And then in went the FBI, and then, and then ...
My point is not “Hillary did it, too!” My point is that for all the overwrought media coverage, the actual crimes and wrongdoing have been pretty typical — for Washington, D.C. America’s Manaforts and Clintons go to D.C., help their pals get political power, then turn that power into piles of cash. And “We, the People?” We are last on the list of priorities.
Trump’s promise to “drain the swamp” was a key part of his message. Manafort’s indictment is Episode Two: The Swamp Strikes Back.