Part II: Pardon Moi is the hot new reality show
As I said in my Friday newsletter while sorting out the testimony made public by the January 6 committee, “And yet, I have more. We haven’t begun to discuss my conspiracy theory. Hint: it does include Gaetz. And it’s way more fun than the now known details of this confederacy of dummkopfs.”
Gaetz requested a pardon in early December before the Capitol insurrection attack. And he famously asked words to the effect of: a pardon for ‘any and all things I’ve done from the beginning of time to now.’
What does it mean?
It’s reasonable to assume - but it is an assumption - that this could be related to his sex trafficking pal as I quote from Matt Gaetz’s Wikipedia definition:
(Note: bolding is mine, both for specific events or dates or links I recommend you read)
In January 2020, the U.S. Secret Service reportedly received a tip that, in April 2018, Gaetz had accompanied Seminole County tax collector Joel Greenberg to a government office where Greenberg was producing fake IDs.[200] Greenberg was indicted in August 2020 on an array of charges, including sex trafficking a 17-year-old girl in 2017 and creating fake IDs to facilitate sex trafficking.[201][202] The investigation of Greenberg led federal officials to look into some of Gaetz's related activities.[200] In late 2020, the Justice Department opened its investigation of Gaetz for allegedly sex trafficking the same 17-year-old girl in 2017 and whether he had violated federal sex trafficking laws by paying her to travel with him across state lines.[201] As part of his plea bargain, Greenberg cooperated with the investigation of Gaetz and others.
So the investigation of Gaetz began in late 2020, the same time he began seeking an overbroad pardon. I encourage you to read the few paragraphs about the sex trafficking.
There’s a mention there that Greenberg tried to buy himself a pardon via Roger Stone, using bitcoin. So I researched Greenberg and found this photo that he posted on Twitter on July 8, 2017. That’s 2-1/2 years before both of the investigations began.
Facts: Stone and Gaetz have been friends with Greenberg for more than 5 years, Evidence exists that Greenberg offered $300,000 to Stone if Stone could get him a pardon, that Stone was receptive and willing to take the money. But he told his pal Joel that WH lawyer Pat Cipollone nixed the pardon and Stone also said Gaetz had told him not to give pal Joel the pardon.
The messages between Stone and Greenberg give the sense that without the pardon, Joel would be forced to flip against Gaetz to the FBI.
If Stone was telling him the truth, why would Gaetz advise him NOT to pardon Greenberg? Conceivably (speculation alert) Gaetz may have found out that the Stone/Greenberg conversations were compromised or Gaetz felt he could pressure Greenberg not to flip while he’s in custody.
The Stone connection is intriguing precisely because of all the crimes he’s committed and his receipt of a commutation, then a pardon on December 23, 2020. As with his crimes, Stone has denied helping pal Joel at all.
So my research took me back through the pardons Trump actually issued, much of this via the NY Times.
Steve Bannon was pardoned before any conviction, which is unusual. As a former strategic adviser to Trump and co-founder of the rightwing publication Breitbart, Bannon also served on the board of Cambridge Analytica, which dissolved prior to a full investigation of its use of illegal data from Facebook. He also helped create a network of far right groups in Europe. Though he’s had an on/off relationship with Trump (lauding and criticizing him), he’s an extremely smart media manipulator and fundraiser (traits of both) who loves to spend OPM (other people’s money) and will break the law to do so. He and Trump are nationalist twins in their aims though Bannon is the better read and smarter of the pair. (the Wikipedia description of Bannon is also useful and recommended).
Mr. Trump also pardoned one of New York’s best-known art dealers, Hillel Nahmad, known as Helly, a member of a wealthy, influential family of art collectors. He had served five months in federal prison in 2014 after pleading guilty to a charge that he had led a sports gambling ring, which investigators said had ties to Russian-American organized crime figures.
Prior to his January 20, 2021 pardons, there was also:
Paul Manafort, convicted for his decade-long multimillion-dollar financial fraud scheme done in the former Soviet Union. From his Wikipedia entry:
On October 27, 2017, Manafort and his business associate Rick Gates were indicted in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on multiple charges arising from his consulting work for the pro-Russian government of Viktor Yanukovych in Ukraine before Yanukovych's overthrow in 2014.[14] The indictment came at the request of Robert Mueller's Special Counsel investigation.[15][16] In June 2018, additional charges were filed against Manafort for obstruction of justice and witness tampering that are alleged to have occurred while he was under house arrest,[17] and he was ordered to jail.[18]
Manafort was prosecuted in two federal courts. In August 2018, he stood trial in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia and was convicted on eight charges of tax and bank fraud. Manafort was next prosecuted on ten other charges, but this effort ended in a mistrial with Manafort later admitting his guilt.[19][20][21] In the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, Manafort pled guilty to two charges of conspiracy to defraud the United States and witness tampering,[22] while agreeing to cooperate with prosecutors.
On November 26, 2018, Mueller reported that Manafort violated his plea deal by repeatedly lying to investigators. On February 13, 2019, D.C. District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson concurred, voiding the plea deal.[23][24][25] On March 7, 2019, Judge T. S. Ellis III sentenced Manafort to 47 months in prison.[26][27][28] On March 13, 2019, Jackson sentenced Manafort to an additional 43 months in prison.[29][30] Minutes after his sentencing, New York state prosecutors charged Manafort with sixteen state felonies.[31] On December 18, 2019, the state charges against him were dismissed because of the doctrine of double jeopardy.[32][33][34] The Republican-controlled Senate Intelligence Committee concluded in August 2020 that Manafort's ties to individuals connected to Russian intelligence while he was Trump's campaign manager "represented a grave counterintelligence threat" by creating opportunities for "Russian intelligence services to exert influence over, and acquire confidential information on, the Trump campaign."[35]
Manafort managed Trump’s 2016 campaign till he became a campaign liability and he was replaced by Steve Bannon.
So let’s skip to the Wikipedia entry titled Links between Trump associates and Russian officials. Key points include:
In November 2016, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told the Interfax news agency, "Obviously, we know most of the people from his entourage", and "I cannot say that all of them but quite a few have been staying in touch with Russian representatives."
Also:
Several Trump advisers, including former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn and former campaign manager Paul Manafort, have been connected to Russian officials, or to Viktor Yanukovich and other pro-Russian Ukrainian officials.[23][24]
After Trump was elected in 2016, outgoing President Obama warned Trump not to hire Flynn because of his Russian and Ukrainian work. Trump responded by hiring him, then forcing his resignation less than 3 months later, since he lied to Trump officials about his discussions with a Russian official.
The Mueller report, which came out in 2019, indicated no clear evidence had been established that Trump campaign officials actively aided the Russian government, but the Russian government clearly meddled in our election to the benefit of Trump. He also made clear he did not rule out the possibility that such collusion had occurred.
Then note that this committee was led by two Republicans:
The United States Senate Select Committee on Intelligence released its final report on August 18, 2020. The report concluded that there were significant ties between the 2016 Trump presidential campaign and Russia. In particular, they noted that Paul Manafort had hired Konstantin V. Kilimnik, a "Russian intelligence officer," and that Kilimnik was possibly connected to the 2016 hack and leak operation. The investigation was led by Senator Richard Burr (R-NC) until Burr stepped aside for an unrelated investigation into allegedly illegal stock trades: Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) then led the committee.[51]
While significant ties existed between Putin and several of Trump’s cabinet members (Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, AG Jeff Sessions) and campaign officials (George Papadopolous, Carter Page and others) the most troubling were Bannon, Manafort, Flynn, Rick Gates (Manafort’s business partner and protege), Roger Stone, Jared Kushner and Donald Trump Jr. So let’s zero in on those.
Trump Jr went to a meeting eager to hear dirt on Hillary Clinton that was dangled, but the Russians he met with were actually trying to get some economic sanctions lifted that President Obama imposed. It’s also unlikely that Junior would flip on his dad, so there’s not much case for a pardon there.
Kushner, like several others, lied about some of his meetings. The crown princes of Saudi Arabia and the UAE were eager to see Trump elected, just as Putin was. And Kushner appears to have been trying to set up back channels with those foreign leaders so Trump could communicate with them with no US intelligence oversight. Trump himself has had communications with Putin without using recording secretaries, transcriptionists or translators from the US in the room. It’s reasonable to wonder why and by excluding others, that violates government sunshine laws.
Kushner also had his own financial interests in doing so and recent reports indicate he’s been richly rewarded. Which hasn’t borne the scrutiny that Hunter Biden has faced for making a bundle. Hunter’s windfall pales in comparison to Jared’s and no evidence exists to indicate Hunter communicated anything to his Dad about politics or money. Jarred has been heavily involved in national security and political matters with his father-in-law. Again, though, he’s not gonna flip on Trump.
As I’ve already provided background on Manafort, Bannon and Flynn, each of whom was pardoned, that leaves Gates and Stone.
Gates was involved in a number of illegal schemes. But he got found out big time. So he flipped to avoid the very stiff sentence he was facing. Gates and Manafort were both indicted 9 months after Trump’s inauguration. Among the clients Gates worked with as a lobbyist were Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych and Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska, both allies of Putin. When Manafort, then Bannon, were managing Trump’s 2016 campaign, Gates worked directly under them.
From Gates’ Wikipedia page:
On October 27, 2017, Gates and Manafort were indicted by a federal grand jury as part of the Special Counsel investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections and related matters.[14][3] The twelve-count indictment charged the two men with conspiracy against the United States, making false statements, money laundering, and failing to register as foreign agents for Ukraine as required by the Foreign Agents Registration Act.[14]
As part of his plea deal with Robert Mueller, he testified at Manafort’s trial.
Gates testified that he and Manafort carried out an elaborate offshore tax evasion and bank fraud scheme using offshore shell companies and bank accounts in Cyprus, St. Vincent and the Grenadines and the United Kingdom to funnel millions of dollars from their political consulting work in Ukraine.[38] Gates said he concealed the accounts and the income from U.S. tax authorities by disguising the income as loans with falsified bank loan documents. Gates also testified that he embezzled hundreds of thousands of dollars from Manafort,[38] and funded an expensive extramarital relationship with money embezzled from Manafort.[39]
In a February 7, 2019, hearing, prosecutors speculated that Manafort had concealed facts about his activities to enhance the possibility of his receiving a pardon. They said that Manafort's work with Ukraine had continued after he had made his plea deal and that during the Trump campaign, he met with Gates and Konstantin Kilimnik, in an exclusive New York cigar bar. Gates said the three left the premises separately, each using different exits. Kilimnik was indicted by Mueller.
Gates also testified at Roger Stone’s trial.
On November 12, 2019, Gates testified in the criminal trial of Roger Stone, stating that he witnessed a call between Donald Trump and Stone related to the WikiLeaks website in late July 2016. Although he could not hear what was said, within 30 seconds or so of Trump hanging up, Trump said that "more information would be coming," in an apparent reference to WikiLeaks.[44] On November 15, Stone was found guilty on all seven counts, obstruction of proceedings, five counts of false statements, and one count of witness tampering.[45]
Despite the breadth of his criminal activities, in addition to probation, community service and an incredibly small fine ($20,000), his cooperation in the trial of the others was considered so well done that he only spent 45 days in jail.
There was nothing left for him to endanger Trump with, so no pardon was issued for him. Plus he’s burnt his bridges with multiple players for flipping on them.
Which leads me to my theory about Trump’s choices of who to pardon and why he did so. Clearly I have political biases, but I also retain pretty solid journalistic instincts that aim for objectivity.
It’s simple, really. Trump has regularly crossed the line into illegality and has done so from the time he passed puberty. He thrives on secrecy, using NDAs with employees and courtesans. He has cheated contractors, wives, charities, investors and likely, the IRS. He utilizes any loophole he can find to fundraise from his followers and the ultra-wealthy GOP donor class.
And he admires authoritarians, especially those who nimbly assassinate their opponents and critics, like Putin and the crown prince of Saudi Arabia.
As a habitual stage manager and aware that he’s always on stage now, he bullies and provokes but remains careful about saying things publicly that can provoke criminal prosecution. He’ll tiptoe to the edge with his public exhortations. He crosses the line a little sometimes when he’s on a verbal roll. But privately, with operatives like Stone and Bannon, he’ll cross that line completely as he trusts them to maintain omerta, the code of silence. The pardons are insurance that they’ll zip their lips about Trump.
Stone likely knows the most about Trump’s criminal activities and is least likely to flip on him. Trump stayed afloat when his US credit line dried up as a developer of hotels, condos and casinos that he could sell to wealthy foreign buyers from Russia and elsewhere, helping them launder their money. Both Trump and Stone were/are swingers and hungry for money and influence. So in private, they can be completely open with each other.
And as I laid out in these articles, Stone has been involved with other swingers (like Gaetz and Greenberg), the marketing of pardons, the utilization of seditionists like the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers for his security, the Wikileaks leaking of Hillary’s campaign manager (via Assange), the Russian influence hackers (known as Guccifer, but actually Russian intel agents), and his role as a political fixer/trickster which spans back through work for Nixon, Reagan, George HW Bush, Dole and Kemp.
It’s not surprising that Trump pardoned him. Stone has tutored Trump through the years so much that one could make the case that he’s Geppetto and Trump is Pinocchio. Trump’s hiring of Manafort - Stone’s business partner in their lobbying firm - likely occurred at Stone’s behest. Just as Manafort’s pardon may have been done to satisfy Stone.
Stone’s conviction occurred because of the testimony of Gates, mostly, though the testimony of Bannon also worked against Stone. It’s apparent there’s no love lost between the two. But each has played critical roles in Trump’s political career.
Conclusion: In his relationship with Trump, Steve Bannon shares an affinity for and experience with Hollywood production. And media manipulation. His Wall street ties have proven lucrative for Trump’s campaign financing. He’s publicly stated repeatedly that he’s harvesting populism with the intent of ‘burning down’ the US government. But while advancing himself as an outsider, he’s actually been a foot soldier for the ultra wealthy, most visibly the Mercer family. It’s reasonable to assume that he does the same for others, but quietly.
Roger Stone is another foot soldier, skilled in the arts of lying, media manipulation and serving the ultra wealthy, foreign and domestic. He was convicted precisely because he’s broken the law far more than Bannon. From his Wikipedia profile:
He has described his political modus operandi as "Attack, attack, attack – never defend" and "Admit nothing, deny everything, launch counterattack."[23] Stone first suggested Trump run for president in early 1998 while he was Trump's casino business lobbyist in Washington.[24] The Netflix documentary film Get Me Roger Stone focuses on Stone's past and role in Trump's presidential campaign.[25]
The Achilles’ heel of both men is their humongous egos. Despite his pardon, Stone still can be prosecuted in state courts and should be. He also can be prosecuted for contempt of Congress for refusing to testify to the January 6 committee.
I recommend a full read of his Wikipedia entry plus a viewing of the Netflix documentary Get Me Roger Stone.
There aren’t many heroes in reviewing Trump’s career in and out of politics. Bill Barr agreed to work for an obvious criminal and allowed the DOJ to be compromised in the sentencing of Roger Stone and by launching an investigation of legit investigators at the bidding of Trump. It’s one of Trump’s favorite tricks: when the heat is on him for a newly discovered misdeed, launch an investigation so the media and social media focuses on that, instead of on him.
The jury is out on whether AG Merrick Garland will ultimately succeed with any prosecution of anyone. But the January 6 committee has already demonstrated some success at digging out facts from others, like the ‘little people’ working in the background around these arrogant crooks. By the end of this summer, I predict the narratives will have changed completely about the insurrection, with Trump and his cronies losing momentum and popular support.
Let’s set aside the impulse to create new heroes and legends. This is our government, its full weight is borne by the collective effort of ‘the little people’ working diligently at a broad array of tasks. We are ‘the establishment’ and it’s too easy to lose sight of how critical these multiple people of the oft criticized bureaucracy are.
The real corrupters are found in the ‘front men and women’ who try to bend the rules and break the laws with impunity. There’s always been a few of them around, in the elected/appointed political class. Now our DOJ and Supreme Court draw perfectly legitimate critique for becoming over-politicized. It’s important to expose them, prosecute and convict them. Especially those who threaten to tear it down and turn it into an authoritarian hellscape running on bigotry, sexism, racism and dirty money. We have actual enemies abroad who watch these divisions in this country and are eager to exploit them. The current corrupters have weakened the USA tremendously.
And nobody has time for the murders and tortures that will come from that.
Maybe this mashup will boost your spirits.
And were you aware Amanda Holden from Britain’s Got Talent could sing?