Lawrence: Paul Manafort Raid Means 'Probable Cause' Crime Committed | The Last Word

>> PROBABLE CAUSE. THOSE ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT
WORDS OF THE DAY TODAY. PROBABLE CAUSE.
WE HAVE NOW PUBLICLY REACHED THE STATE OF PROBABLE CAUSE IN THE
SPECIAL PROSECUTOR'S INVESTIGATION OF DONALD TRUMP
AND HIS FAMILY AND HIS CAMPAIGN ASSOCIATES.
SPECIAL PRIAL PROSECUTOR ROBERT MUELLER HAS FOUND PROBABLE CAUSE
THAT A CRIME HAS BEEN COMMITTED, AND SPECIAL PROSECUTOR ROBERT
MUELLER BELIEVES THAT PAUL MANAFORT CANNOT BE TRUSTED TO
HAND OVER EVIDENCE IN THE SPECIAL PROSECUTOR'S
INVESTIGATION. THOSE ARE THE TWO THINGS THAT
THE SPECIAL PROSECUTOR HAD TO ESTABLISH FOR A FEDERAL JUDGE IN
ORDER TO CONVINCE THAT FEDERAL JUDGE TO SIGN A SEARCH WARRANT
FOR ONE OF PAUL MANAFORT'S HOMES IN ALEXANDRIA, VIRGINIA.
THE SPECIAL PROSECUTOR HAD TO SHOW THE JUDGE THAT THERE IS
PROBABLE CAUSE THAT A CRIME HAS BEEN COMMITTED AND HAD TO
CONVINCE THE JUDGE THAT PAUL MANAFORT CANNOT BE TRUSTED TO
NOT COMMIT THE CRIME OF DESTROYING OR HIDING EVIDENCE
SUBPOENAED BY THE SPECIAL PROSECUTOR.
JUST ISSUING A STANDARD SUBPOENA TO PAUL MANAFORT IS TYPICALLY
THE WAY EVIDENCE IS COLLECTED BY PROSECUTORS IN SO-CALLED WHITE
COLLAR CRIMINAL CASES LIKE THIS. RAIDING A HOME IN THE MIDDLE OF
THE NIGHT IS AN INDICATION OF A VERY SERIOUS CRIMINAL CASE AND
CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION. "THE WASHINGTON POST" REPORTED
THIS MORNING THAT THE FBI EXECUTED THAT RAID ON WEDNESDAY,
JULY 26th. ONE FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR
TOLD "THE WASHINGTON POST" THAT THE RAID, QUOTE, ADDS A SHOCK
AND AWE ENFORCEMENT COMPONENT TO WHAT UNTIL NOW HAS FOLLOWED A
NATURAL PATH FOR A WHITE-COLLAR INVESTIGATION.
THE RAID OCCURRED THE DAY AFTER PAUL MANAFORT MET WITH SENATE
INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE STAFF. WE DON'T KNOW WHEN PRESIDENT
TRUMP FOUND OUT ABOUT THE RAID, BUT IT IS ENTIRELY POSSIBLE THAT
PAUL MANAFORT'S LAWYERS TOLD THE PRESIDENT'S LAWYERS ABOUT THE
RAID BASICALLY AS SOON AS IT HAPPENED.
AND PRESIDENT TRUMP'S LAWYERS WOULD, OF COURSE, IMMEDIATELY
TELL THEIR CLIENT ABOUT THE RAID.
AND SO BY 8:55 A.M. WHEN THE PRESIDENT ISSUED SOME OF HIS
FIRST TWEETS OF THE DAY, THE PRESIDENT MIGHT HAVE BEEN TRYING
TO SHIFT ATTENTION AWAY FROM THE SPECIAL PROSECUTOR'S
INVESTIGATION THAT DAY ONTO AN ENTIRELY NEW STORY.
AND THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT THE PRESIDENT'S FIRST TWEETS DID.
THAT IS THE MORNING THAT THE PRESIDENT TWEETED HIS
ANNOUNCEMENT THAT THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT WILL NOT
ACCEPT OR ALLOW TRANSGENDER INDIVIDUALS TO SERVE IN ANY
CAPACITY IN THE U.S. MILITARY. IF THE PRESIDENT WAS WAS TRYING
CHANGE THE SUBJECT, IT WORKED. THE DEFENSE DEPARTMENT WAS
CAUGHT OFF GUARD BY THE PRESIDENT'S ANNOUNCEMENT AND HAD
NO COMMENT ON IT. AND WE LATER DISCOVERED THAT THE
PRESIDENT DECIDED TO FIRE OFF THOSE TWEETS EVEN THOUGH HE HAD
BEEN TOLD BY WHITE HOUSE LAWYERS AND DEFENSE DEPARTMENT LAWYERS
THAT THERE WERE SERIOUS LEGAL IMPLICATIONS INVOLVED IN A
POLICY ANNOUNCEMENT LIKE THAT, AND THAT EVERYONE THE PRESIDENT
HAD CONSULT THE ON THIS ISSUE IN THE WHITE HOUSE AND THE STATE
DEPARTMENT WAS STILL WORKING ON IT WHEN THE PRESIDENT SURPRISED
THEM ALL BY ISSUING THAT TWEET. SO IF YOU'RE DONALD TRUMP AND
YOU KNOW ABOUT THE RAID OF PAUL MANAFORT'S HOME EARLY THAT
MORNING, WHAT DO YOU DO? AND, REMEMBER, WHEN YOU CONSIDER
THAT QUESTION OF WHAT DO YOU DO IF YOU'RE DONALD TRUMP, AS FAR
AS WE KNOW, THIS PRESIDENT ONLY KNOWS HOW TO DO ONE THING --
TWEET. THAT'S THE ONLY THING HE
ACTUALLY KNOWS HOW TO DO.
THIS PRESIDENT'S FIRST REACTION TO EVERYTHING IS TO TWEET.
UP TO NOW, THERE WERE INDICATIONS THAT THE PRESIDENT
HAD JUST GROWN IMPATIENT WITH THE ADVICE HE WAS GETTING FROM
THE DEFENSE DEPARTMENT LAWYERS AND THE WHITE HOUSE LAWYERS
ABOUT A TRANSGENDER BAN IN THE
MILITARY, SO HE DECIDED TO BREAK THE LOGJAM BY TWEETING.
THE DEFENSE DEPARTMENT IMMEDIATELY MADE IT CLEAR THAT
THEY DO NOT CREATE NEW POLICIES BY TWEET AND THAT NOTHING HAD
CHANGED IN OUR MILITARY BECAUSE OF THAT TWEET.
IF SOMETHING WAS GOING TO CHANGE, THERE WOULD HAVE TO BE A
CAREFULLY WRITTEN LEGAL DIRECTIVE FROM THE PRESIDENT TO
BEGIN EVEN THINKING ABOUT HOW TO EXECUTE THAT CHANGE IN THE
DEFENSE DEPARTMENT. SO THOSE TWEETS ABOUT A
TRANSGENDER BAN THAT IS NOT HAPPENING ENTERED THE SUSPICION
ZONE OF TRUMP BEHAVIOR INVOLVING THE RUSSIA INVESTIGATION.
OF COURSE, TRYING TO CHANGE THE SUBJECT IN THE NEWS MEDIA HAS
ABSOLUTELY NO EFFECT ON THE INVESTIGATION, WHICH IS
SOMETHING THAT THIS PRESIDENT MIGHT NOT COMPLETELY UNDERSTAND.
THE NEWS MEDIA CAN GO OFF ON TO ANY STORY IT WANTS TO ALL DAY
FOR DAYS ON END, AND THAT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE RUSSIA
INVESTIGATION. THE RUSSIA INVESTIGATION WILL
PROCEED NO MATTER WHAT THE NEWS MEDIA IS TALKING ABOUT.
AND WE NOW KNOW THAT IT WILL PROCEED WITH SUBPOENAS AND WITH
FBI RAIDS IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT WHENEVER NECESSARY BECAUSE
ROBERT MUELLER HAS FOUND PROBABLE CAUSE, AND A FEDERAL
JUDGE BELIEVES ROBERT MUELLER HAS FOUND PROBABLE CAUSE.
ABOUT AN HOUR AFTER THE PRESIDENT TWEETED ABOUT HIS
DESIRE TO BAN TRANSGENDER PEOPLE FROM THE MILITARY, A DESIRE THAT
HAS NO LEGAL EFFECT WHATSOEVER, HE TWEETED THIS.
WHY DIDN'T A.G. SESSIONS REPLACE ACTING FBI DIRECTOR ANDREW
McCABE, A COMEY FRIEND WHO WAS IN CHARGE OF CLINTON
INVESTIGATION BUT GOT BIG DOLLARS, $700,000 FOR HIS WIFE'S
POLITICAL RUN FROM HILLARY CLINTON AND HER REPRESENTATIVES.
DRAIN THE SWAMP. MAYBE THE PRESIDENT FOUND OUT
ABOUT THE FBI RAID AFTER HE SUCCESSFULLY CHANGED THE SUBJECT
TO THE TRANSGENDER BAN, OR MAYBE HE JUST COULDN'T CONTAIN HIMSELF
FROM TAKING A SHOT AT THE LEADER OF THE FBI, THE LAW ENFORCEMENT
AGENCY THAT JUST RAIDED HIS FORMER CAMPAIGN CHAIRMAN'S HOME.
AN HOUR AFTER "THE WASHINGTON POST" BROKE THE STORY ABOUT THE
FBI RAID OF PAUL MANAFORT'S HOME TODAY, THE "NATIONAL ENQUIRER"
BROKE A DIFFERENT STORY ABOUT PAUL MANAFORT.
UNDER THE HEADLINE, TRUMP ADVISER PAUL MANAFORT CAUGHT UP
IN SICK SEX SCANDAL. NOW, IT MIGHT BE WHAT QUALIFIES
AS A SEX SCANDAL IN AMERICA. IT CERTAINLY ISN'T WHAT
QUALIFIES AS A SEX SCANDAL IN FRANCE, BUT THERE SEEMS TO BE
NOTHING SICK ABOUT IT IN ANYONE'S DEFINITION OF SICK.
IT'S A STORY ALLEGING THAT PAUL MANAFORT HAD AN AFFAIR WITH A
YOUNGER WOMAN, WHICH WE ALL KNOW IS A LIFE SPECIALTY OF DONALD
TRUMP'S. BUT THE "NATIONAL ENQUIRER" IS A
TRUMP TOOL. WHEN IT COMES TO TRUMP'S
STORIES, THE "NATIONAL ENQUIRER" IS SIMPLY ANOTHER VERSION OF
DONALD TRUMP'S TWEETS. THE "NATIONAL ENQUIRER" DOES NOT
PUBLISH ANYTHING THAT DONALD TRUMP DOES NOT WANT THE
"NATIONAL ENQUIRER" TO ACCOMPLISH.
SO PAUL MANAFORT HAS EVERY RIGHT TO READ THE "NATIONAL ENQUIRER"
TODAY AS AN ATTACK ON HIM AUTHORIZED BY DONALD TRUMP.
IT MAY BE THE MOST UNWISE ATTACK DONALD TRUMP HAS EVER LAUNCHED
BECAUSE AS THE SPECIAL PROSECUTOR CLOSES IN ON PAUL
MANAFORT, PAUL MANAFORT WILL BE FACING THE POSSIBILITY OF FIVE
YEARS IN FEDERAL PRISON ON POSSIBLE TAX EVASION CHARGES FOR
WHAT COULD BE TENS OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN CASH THAT WAS PAID
FOR ACTIVITIES PAUL MANAFORT PERFORMED INVOLVING THE COUNTRY
OF UKRAINE, WHERE A LEDGER WAS FOUND INDICATING THAT PAUL
MANAFORT WAS PAID $17 MILLION IN CASH BY THE THEN PRO-PUTIN
POLITICAL PARTY IN UKRAINE. SPECIAL PROSECUTOR ROBERT
MUELLER MAY HAVE PROBABLE CAUSE OF SOME OTHER CRIMES COMMITTED
BY PAUL MANAFORT, ALL OF WHICH CAN TURN OUT TO BE REASONS PAUL
MANAFORT MIGHT WANT TO COOPERATE WITH THE SPECIAL PROSECUTOR AND
PROVIDE TESTIMONY OF CRIMES COMMITTED BY OTHERS IN ORDER TO
SAVE HIMSELF FROM PRISON, INCLUDING THE POSSE POSSIBILITY
PAUL MANAFORT TESTIFYING AGAINST PEOPLE NAMED TRUMP OR THE
PRESIDENT'S SON-IN-LAW, JARED KUSHNER.
PAUL MANAFORT IS NOT THE ONLY ONE WHO SHOULD HAVE BEEN
TERRIFIED TO

Lawrence: Paul Manafort Raid Means 'Probable Cause' Crime Committed | The Last Word | MSNBC

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