The trial of former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort took a startling turn on Wednesday when the President’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, was suddenly dragged into the proceedings.
Manafort is accused of orchestrating a “global conspiracy” on a host of financial crimes, most centered around his efforts to evade taxes on the millions of dollars he received doing shady lobbying work for former Ukranian puppet leader, Viktor Yanukovych. He faces 305 years in prison for 18 financial crime charges.
The nation learned today that the body of evidence presented against Manafort contained a November 30, 2016 email from Manafort to Jared Kushner asking for a Trump administration job for Federal Savings Bank CEO Stephen Calk, who just so happened to have given Manafort a staggering $16 million in loans even though he “knew Manafort was lying about his finances.”
“Calk was an active supporter of the campaign since April. His background is strong in defense issues, management, and finance” said Manafort.
Kushner wrote back “on it!”
Calk did not end up getting the Secretary of the Army job he was recommended for.
It just goes to show how shamelessly everybody involved in the Trump campaign was dedicated to advancing their own personal interests — and how willing they all were to enable the flagrant corruption that they all were engaging in with such ease.
It’s pretty telling that Manafort’s team didn’t even bother trying to call any witnesses for their defense yesterday. They know his goose is cooked.
Let’s hope Mueller’s next target is Jared Kushner, who is almost certainly guilty of a swath of his own financial misdeeds.
