Informative 3 min. video “explainer” about Grand Juries from the WaPo
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Here are some more “legal explainers.”
Lately, I’ve been tossing around the term “money laundering,” but it suddenly occurred to me I only have a vague notion of what that crime actually entails. In looking for answers, I came across these awesome explainers, expertly and engagingly written by Randall Eliason, a law professor at George Washington University specializing in white collar crime. He is also a contributing columnist at The Washington Post and a former federal prosecutor.
While nailing down the legal definition of money laundering, Professor Eliason uses some examples from the Mueller probe – since these pieces were written last year, some of those examples are from the same time frame, but his explanations are as relevant as ever – in fact, you can immediately apply them to the recent Paul Erickson indictment.
Part 1 covers domestic money laundering:
Part 2 focuses on international money laundering:
And here’s a “bonus explainer” on RICO, the body of laws related to racketeering. Writing in January, 2018, Eliason explains that, knowing what we knew at the time, the RICO statutes would probably not apply in the Mueller investigation. However, after reading this, and knowing what we know now, it seems to me that we are much closer to a point where the RICO laws might come into play – especially in regards to David Pecker’s National Enquirer, considering the multiple allegations of extortion and blackmail that have been leveled against it (see @matt’s “The Showdown: Bezos vs A.M.I.” in Day 750).
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Thanks for all the legal explainers…very helpful @Keaton_James
Yes, this type of mob-like behavior could fall within the RICO guidelines, since pressure and graft/extortion vrs punishing photos would be the levers to be used to get Bezos to stop investigation on Saudi killings in Wapo (allegedly!)
But looking into RICO more, and hearing it being discussed particularly within the SDNY context, the statute of limitations for this crime is 4 years. So the Stormy/McDougal payment happened with in the final part of the campaign - Oct 2016, and prosecutors would have until Oct 2020 to file RICO charges looks like.
RICO Act itself does not contain a statute of limitations but the Supreme Court has held that civil RICO claims are subject to a four-year statute of limitations.
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Thanks for the post that explains money laundering. The more I read, the more I’m finding a lack of common definition of many terms. The textbook definition of socialism, progressivism, conservative, liberal, populism are not adhered to by everyone. How can we have a decent discussion if we don’t even agree what terms mean.
I’ll get off my soapbox now. I get tired of trying to figure out different people, including some of my friends.
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Lol…moving this to humor
'Lil misposting error and in wrong section…am deep in this WTF-ery. 
When you see the President’s shifting statements on the Russia investigation organized in a clearly documented list like this, you can’t help but say “damn, this guy acts guilty.”
One observation: The “Pardons” section lays out the President’s flip-flops on this topic. While reading this, I was reminded of one startling answer that Whitaker gave during his recent testimony (to me, this was a real bombshell yet it received scant media attention). Watch the moment here.
Rep. Veronica Escobar (D-Tex.): Did you ever create, direct the creation of, see or become aware of the existence of any documents relating to pardons of any individual?
Whitaker: I am aware of documents relating to pardons of individuals, yes.
It’s a shame there was no follow up on this exchange (Escobar’s time expired and no one else returned to the subject). There’s a chance Whitaker was talking about pardon documents unrelated to the Russia investigation, but to me, the context strongly suggests his remarks did indeed refer to at least one of the cast of characters charged by Mueller.
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Court rules that Manafort breached his plea agreement. Court doc. 
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Judge Amy Jackson is going to throw the book at Manafort…
Defined now as a liar and time now for some jail.
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Manafort is 
fucked
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FYI - Vraig Unger’s recent book or 2 articles in the New Republic - both good on Trunp Laundromat…ah, I think this is the actual tittle!
Just digging through some of the interactive graphics on who is in touch with whom, who did what to whom, and where the intersections are…There is extensive reporting on this kind of thing.
Interesting to look to see what facts are out there (June 2018) concerning Stone’s indictment, and his interaction with the campaign/wiki Assange etc. and what’s being revealed with Stone’s indictment paperwork. Yes, there was contact between Stone-Guccifer 2 and how do they prove he talked with T?
Will T have plausible denial as it relates to Stone…they were known to have spoken all the time. Was Stone wired perhaps?
Politics Analysis
At least six people close to Trump almost certainly knew about offers from Russians of dirt on ClintonIn March, we looked at the various ways in which members of Trump’s extended teams had been approached by agents of the Russian government during the campaign. It was a complicated web at that point — a web that has since grown only more intricate. In the graphic below, the gray box indicates the connections between Russians (top) and Trump’s team (bottom), arrayed relative to when they occurred in 2016. Individuals at the top and the bottom are arrayed in relative proximity to Trump and the Russian government.
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Do we think only a direct call mono-mono with Trump is the way to an indictment/etc.? Or will it be an Impeachment with an imponderance of evidence? Which is what is turning the Trump Titanic into direct connection to “guilty”? I think once you get to Impeachment…it won’t be the dog and pony show of FOX/GOP talking heads. History hopefully will get a repeat. And if they are not RICO into oblivion I will be truly surprised.
Philip Bump, of Washington Post compiles a list of all 81 people/organizations who were contacted by the House Oversight Committee. A lot of great descriptions of who they are and a good resource to check some facts about them.
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Putin setting up punishment in a very autocratic way for spreading “Fake News.” Sounds familiar…and helps Putin to control the narrative.
Keep all controversial information away from the Russians…is what Putin does to keep his country on a short leash, and allows for imprisonment or worse.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a new law which will allow the punishment of individuals and online media for spreading what Russia calls “fake news” and information which “disrespects” the state.
…
Matthew Rojansky, director of the Wilson Center’s Kennan Institute, told NPR the new laws in Russia are “politically significant” because the Internet “remained a relatively free space for political expression, including oppositional to the regime, even as the state media, and all other forms of media, be it print, or television, or radio, were largely shut down by the state, over the last 20 years.”
He says some factions in Russia’s government have pushed for more restrictions. “The idea that there should be a Russian internet is very convenient for those whose main goal is control, and that’s where you come back to the siloviki, the security apparatus of Russia, including the legacy organizations of the KGB which were uncomfortable to begin with, with the idea that Russians were fully connected to a global information space that was in their view a tool of the United States,” Rojansky said.
The Moscow Times reports, “Tougher Internet laws introduced over the past five years require search engines to delete some search results, messaging services to share encryption keys with security services and social networks to store users’ personal data on servers within the country.”
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More on Russia - Mikhail Lesin, a former aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin was found to have a broken neck, and also very drunk, died unexpectedly at the Dupont Hotel in DC.
Suspicious…and comes with the territory (being in Putin’s proximity)
WASHINGTON — Newly released documents show that a former adviser to Russia’s president sustained a complete fracture of his neck “at or near the time of his death” in a Washington hotel room in 2015.
The documents from the city’s medical examiner were released to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty in response to a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit filed nearly two years ago.
In a report published Saturday, RFE said the finding offers no clear-cut evidence of foul play in the death of Mikhail Lesin, who was a key adviser to Russian President Vladimir Putin during Putin’s rise to power.
But RFE said the documents provide “the most precise scientific description” yet of a death that’s been shrouded in suspicion.
The official ruling was that Lesin, 57, died accidentally of blunt force trauma after falling repeatedly in his room while intoxicated.
Yet there is intrigue surrounding the case, fed by circumstantial evidence: It seems odd for someone Lesin’s age to die of blunt force trauma while alone in a room. There is also a gap in security video footage for the hours after Lesin was last seen alive. The police report eventually released to the public has been heavily redacted.
Above all, there is a long history of high-profile Russians turning up dead or seriously ill in foreign countries.
RFE said the documents released by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner show that Lesin’s hyoid bone had been completely fractured. An official, whose name was redacted, is quoted as saying such breaks “are commonly associated with hanging or manual strangulation,” but that it was also possible that the bone was damaged during the autopsy.
Lesin had amassed a fortune through a company he set up in the 1990s to sell television advertising. He then spent years as Putin’s media czar, helping bring national television under Kremlin control during Putin’s rise to power. Later he founded the global news network Russia Today, now known as RT. But he abruptly resigned in December 2014 and was believed by some Moscow-watchers to have fallen out of favour with the Putin government.
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Will definitely take you up on that. Def a hero banner of some kind. Will ping you when ready! 