Follow The Money: Paul Manafort, Donald Trump & Michael Flynn

By now, you’ve likely heard, or read about Paul Manafort’s bail being revoked.

Manfort, of course, was briefly then-candidate Donald Trump’s Presidential Campaign Manager, and has been arrested by the FBI as part of former FBI Director Robert Mueller’s (b.1944) ongoing investigation into illegal activity by foreign nations in the United States, some of which may have been related to the General Election of 2016.

Manfort (b.1949) is a Georgetown University School of Law-educated attorney, and among other activities, has made his money lobbying for, and advising the national political campaigns of such presidential candidates as Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, and Robert “Bob” Dole.

Manafort has also advised political campaigns in totalitarian dictatorial regimes, and has lobbied for, advised, and represented some highly unsavory international criminal characters including the ruthlessly blood-thirsty late Angolan Communist guerrilla leader Jonas Savimbi (1934-2002), greedy corrupted late former dictator of the Philippines Ferdinand Marcos (1917-1989), and corrupt ousted former totalitarian Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych (b.1950), who remains “exiled” (in hiding) in Russia for outstanding Ukrainian arrest warrants for indictments of High Treason. One thing that many of Manafort’s clients seem to have in common, is that they have all purported to be “anti-communist,” having played upon American fears of “communism,” and thus falsely obtain American governmental sympathy – and frequently military support – for their corrupt totalitarian regimes.

Ironically, Ukraine’s “Orange Revolution” in the winter of 2004-2005 (so named for the assassination attempt by poisoning Yanukovych’s opponent Viktor Yushchenko’s (b.1954) food using the poison “TCDD,” the principal component of the defoliant “Agent Orange”) involved a Ukraine Supreme Court nullification of the initial November election results because of massive fraud and voter intimidation by Yanukovych sympathizers and governmental authorities. Subsequently, a highly-scrutinized internationally-observed “run-off election” was held in which democratic reformer Yushchenko won by 52-44% of votes cast.

While it is NOT illegal in our United States to provide legal representation of other nations’ so-called “leaders,” per se (however wicked or corrupt they may be), or to be an advisor to, or a so-called “campaign” strategist for the political campaigns of such scurrilously contemptuous characters, it IS ILLEGAL to fail to register with our United States Government as an agent of a foreign government in accordance with the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA).

The FARA is a law principally administered by the Justice Department’s Registration Unit of the Counterespionage Section (CES) in their National Security Division (NSD). And it was Manafort’s failure to register as an Agent of a Foreign Nation which was, in large part, what caught Justice Department officials’ attention.

In 1981, Manafort was nominated to the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) by then-POTUS Ronald Reagan. The OPIC is a United States governmental entity which, according to their website, “is a self-sustaining U.S. Government agency that helps American businesses invest in emerging markets.” And since 1971, OPIC has provided businesses “with the tools to manage the risks associated with foreign direct investment, fosters economic development in emerging market countries, and advances U.S. foreign policy and national security priorities. OPIC helps American businesses gain footholds in new markets, catalyzes new revenues and contributes to jobs and growth opportunities both at home and abroad. OPIC fulfills its mission by providing businesses with financing, political risk insurance, advocacy and by partnering with private equity investment fund managers.”

In the agency’s Mission paragraph in its 2016 Annual Report it states in part that,”OPIC was created in 1969 under the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (FAA), as amended, as an agency of the U.S. Government and began operations in 1971 in accordance with the goals envisioned by Congress and incorporated in OPIC’s authorizing statute.”

It is CRITICALLY IMPORTANT to understand, that as an arm of the United States government, OPIC advances the Foreign Policy and National Security objectives of our United States, and it is funded entirely by private contributions at no cost to American taxpayers. In effect, what that means is that OPIC is funded entirely by industry.

ALL OPIC’s Board of Directors are nominated by the POTUS, and confirmed by the Senate. Some of OPIC’s 15-member Board names should also be familiar to many news watchers. For example, Wilbur L. Ross, Jr., Secretary of Commerce, U.S. Department of Commerce; John J. Sullivan, Deputy Secretary of State; David R. Malpass, Under Secretary for International Affairs, U.S. Department of the Treasury; Ambassador Robert E. Lighthizer, United States Trade Representative, Office of the U.S. Trade Representative; and R. Alexander Acosta, Secretary of Labor, U.S. Department of Labor.

OPIC operates under the provisions of a Continuing Resolution (Public Law 114-223), which as of the date of publication of their Annual Report, extends OPIC’s core programs through December 9, 2016. Notably, the report states that “without reauthorization and appropriations, the Corporation will be unable to operate or generate net collections projected in the President’s Budget.” Presently, OPIC has numerous global projects, including 13 ongoing projects in Russia, which began in 2003, and 19 in Ukraine which began in 2004.

Jay Sekulow, the attorney-leader of the alt-right’s civil rights activist organization the American Center for Law & Justice (ACLJ) founded by Pat Robertson in 1990, like twice-disgraced Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore, has been resoundingly criticized for making his fortune through control of numerous 501(c)(3) non-profit interlinked charities, which he promoted significantly by using religious broadcasters, and other so-called “Christian” media.

Sekulow, a self-described “Messianic Jew,” began appearing on religious television shows like Robertson’s Christian Broadcasting Network, Trinity Broadcasting Network, among other religious hucksters and charlatans, began to convince the viewing audience that as Christians, they were being persecuted by our United States government. And, in conjunction with the 1985 Reagan-era abolition of the FCC’s long-standing “Fairness Doctrine” requiring broadcasters to devote some airtime to discussion of controversial matters of public interest, and to provide contrasting views of those matters, it was became relatively easy for Sekulow, because he claimed to be a Jewish Christian convert, and others to amass significant partisan Evangelical support using religious broadcasters’ use of public airwaves.

Sekulow is also a member of POTUS Trump’s legal team advising him during Robert Mueller’s investigation into wrong-doing involving foreign nations during the time leading up to the 2016 General Election. He is also the attorney who recently falsely told news agencies that “We have confirmed that the news reports that the Special Counsel had subpoenaed financial records relating to the president are false. No subpoena has been issued or received. We have confirmed this with the bank and other sources.”

The German daily business newspaper Handelsblatt was the first news agency to report Mueller’s subpoena, and wrote in part that “Deutsche Bank has received a subpoena from the U.S. special counsel investigating possible collusion between President Donald Trump’s campaign and Russia. It’s actually welcome news for the bank.” It was painfully evident, of course, from that point forward, that what Sekulow told the media was a bald-faced lie.

The ACLJ made a name for itself by it’s numerous lawsuits challenging various perceived “injustices” for a predominately – if not exclusively – Evangelical Christian clientele. None of their cases have ever involved any other perceived slight, or alleged wrongdoing by, or to, members of another religious faith tradition. For example, in 2010, the ACLJ asked the Justice Department to investigate whether a non-governmental weekly prayer session held during the Clinton, Bush and Obama administrations, and then sponsored in 2006 by MN Rep. Keith Ellison, and hosted on Capitol Hill by the Congressional Muslims Staff Association and Members of Congress, was a terrorist organization.

As has been reported, Manafort’s Ukrainian money laundering scheme – create an offshore company to accept foreign money, use that company to purchase American property, then secure a loan against that property, which then enables the recipient to have full access to the money without having paid taxes or disclosed the source of the income – was part of what tipped off Federal investigators to his $18 million ill-gotten gains in direct violation of U.S. law.

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) arm of the United States Treasury provides investigation into suspicious transactions, terrorism funding, and other illicit activity, and reports to the Treasury Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence. “FinCEN’s mission is to safeguard the American financial system from illicit use, combat money laundering, and to promote national security through the collection, analysis, and dissemination of financial intelligence and strategic use of financial authorities.” The Treasury Department has estimated that perhaps 30% of ALL NYC real estate properties have been purchased with laundered money. Areas of particular interest to the Treasury are New York City, Miami, Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties, San Diego, San Francisco, San Diego and the San Francisco Bay Area, as well as Bexar County, Texas.

Realizing that, then-private citizen Donald Trump’s sale of his overpriced $95 million dollar Palm Beach, Florida property to Russian fertilizer oligarch Dmitry Rybolovlev in 2008 similarly becomes highly questionable, particularly given that it was demolished shortly after purchase, and was allegedly purchased “for investment purposes,” rather than a personal residence.

Trump once infamously remarked to Fortune magazine in April 3, 2000, that, “It’s very possible that I could be the first presidential candidate to run and make money on it.” Could he be manipulating our system to his advantage in an ultimate game of chess?

We’ll find out in the days ahead.

Following is a link to Special Investigator Robert Mueller’s petition to the court to revoke Paul Manafort’s bail.

https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/4321226/12-4-17-Govt-Opposition-Manafort-Motion-to-Modify.pdf