NO NOT RUSSIA . THE UKRAINIAN CONNECTION .

NO NOT RUSSIA . THE UKRAINIAN CONNECTION .  

while Mueller is looking for a Russian Connection
he missed a Ukrainian
connection , it all adds up
better than Russian Meddling .
Jail buddies : Manafort and Cohen .

Last week, Trump submitted his written answers to a list of questions from Mueller, whose probe he has repeatedly dismissed as a "witch hunt." The President is absolutely correct. Two years and still no tangible  evidence that Russia "meddled" by changing votes against Hillary  , but what do we mean by the word "meddling" ? . For that its difficult for Mueller to find evidence to fit the criteria of logic ,  that was already out there for decades . As a business man , (1)>>Donald Trump had-has connections with Russia trying to build a Trump tower hotel in Moscow . You can google it , you don't need a special investigator to find that evidence . For example , You can watch Donald Trump 2013 Moscow Beauty Pageant on YouTube . There is so much evidence of that , that SAYING that its evidence of "collusion" might be a bit ludicrous , but its the closest evidence for Mueller . (1.2)>>But regarding Manafort and Cohen for "lying" , my opinion is that they should have said the truth about Trump's businesses there . BUT out of fear I think none of these two spoke any partial of truth in their testimonies . So news of Paul Manafort’s guilty plea for two felony counts, both linked to his extensive work as a political lobbyist in (2)>>Ukraine, is a rare cause for celebration in Kiev. I think Manafort part is a bit shady.  At a federal court in Washington, D.C., Manafort pleaded guilty to conspiracy against the United States and conspiracy to obstruct justice and agreed to cooperate with special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.    Mr. Manafort was convicted in August on eight counts of financial fraud and evading taxes on millions of dollars he earned as a consultant for pro-Russia political forces in Ukraine.  Mr. Manafort, who worked for a decade as a political consultant in Ukraine before becoming chairman of the Trump campaign in 2016 .  There is nothing new about Mr. Manafort’s use of shell companies to hide and launder money. Nor is it surprising that Mr. Manafort should seek to use the scheme of fake directors, say analysts of Ukrainian corruption. Right Now with the explosive situation in Ukraine right in the middle of " staged provocation" of trying to create an international conflict , that seems too coincidental.  (3)>>What ANOTHER UKRAINIAN CONNECTION ?  Michael Cohen, was reportedly paid $400,000 (£300,000) to arrange talks between Mr Trump and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko.The payment was allegedly arranged by Ukrainian intermediaries looking to secure a “backchannel” to Mr Trump, in hopes of getting Mr Poroshenko more time with the US president when he visited last June. Well it gets a bit weirder . Both Manafort and Cohan both had connections with Ukraine , not exactly Russia .  Michael Cohen's wife, Laura, has

stayed mostly out of the mind-boggling news cycle that is the aftermath of 2016, but she's someone you should know — especially when you take her parents and their role in Cohen's career into consideration.Laura, whose family is from Ukraine and whose given name was Laura Shusterman, married Cohen in 1994. Her background has come up in recent conversations about the Russia investigation. As The New York Times reported . While it really has nothing to do with Collusion?,  Michael Cohen, President Trump’s former personal attorney who once famously claimed he would "take a bullet" for his boss, pleaded guilty Thursday to lying to Congress about a Trump real estate project in Russia in the latest development in Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation.  The lawyers said in court papers filed in New York Friday that Cohen cooperated extensively with Special Counsel Robert Mueller and New York state investigators who brought a civil lawsuit against the Trump Organization and individuals, including Trump.They say he’ll continue to do so. The 52-year-old Cohen faces sentencing Dec. 12 after pleading guilty to crimes in August and on Thursday. Prosecutors have not yet filed a pre-sentence submission but have agreed to note Cohen cooperation to the sentencing judge.
Ukrainian sabotage .
2 years ago Russia’s foreign ministry has lashed out at Ukraine for Ukrainian officials’ (4)>>disapproval of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump. In a bizarre rant, spokeswoman Maria Zakharova called out Ukrainian diplomats for making “rude” remarks about Trump on social media, according to a transcript posted on the ministry’s website. She then accused Ukraine of going to great lengths to try to sabotage Trump’s presidential campaign over the summer, purportedly planting information about Paul Manafort’s shady ties to Ukrainian oligarchs. “Ukraine seriously complicated the work of Trump’s election campaign headquarters by planting information according to which Paul Manafort, Trump’s campaign chairman, allegedly accepted money from Ukrainian oligarchs,” she said. Accusing Ukraine of “provocations,” she hinted that authorities in Kiev might pull some stunts to remain allies with the U.S. after Trump’s win. “It cannot be ruled out that Kiev wants the United States to remain its main sponsor after Donald Trump’s victory… It appears that keeping this sponsorship is a big challenge for the Kiev authorities, who were uncivilized and rude toward President-elect Donald Trump when he was a presidential candidate,” she said. (5)>>BUT it gets STRANGER still , while not a peep from either the Right or Left news media outlets  that Ukrainian government officials tried to help Hillary Clinton and undermine Trump by publicly questioning his fitness for office. They also disseminated documents implicating a top Trump aide in corruption and suggested they were investigating the matter, only to back away after the election. And they helped Clinton’s allies research damaging information on Trump and his advisers.  Ukraine, on the other hand, has traditionally enjoyed strong relations with U.S. administrations. Its officials worry that could change under Trump, whose team has privately expressed sentiments ranging from ambivalence to deep skepticism about Poroshenko’s regime. 

NOTES AND COMMENTS:

 (1)>>Donald Trump had-has connections with Russia.  Yes there is evidence of Business issues with Trump and Russia . Why Trump never clarified that is mind boggling , but the whole internet is full of evidence going back to the 1987 . Even more you can read a full list at wikipedia [ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_projects_of_Donald_Trump_in_Russia ]  The Trump' 2013 visit to Moscow for the Miss Universe pageant; and his short-lived mixed martial arts venture with one of Putin’s favorite athletes. The solid lines mark established facts, while dotted ones represent speculative or unproven connections. Donald Trump you have to remember is a widely know celebrity even in Russia .  Speculative that Trump may have known many Russian Oligarchs whom he made big deals , investments . After Michael Cohen disclosed in a plea deal Thursday that he had pursued a Trump Tower Moscow project even during the 2016 primaries, President Trump shrugged it off. “My focus was running for president,” Trump said, “but when I run for president, that doesn’t mean I’m not allowed to do business.” As it may seem like "evidence" for Mueller , its REALLY NOTHING NEW , hardly criminal only to a certain extant that so much was concealed . The fact that Cohan lied about it , did not present any facts that are already public record .(1.2)>>But regarding Manafort. During Paul Manafort’s trial for tax evasion and bank fraud, the public has heard over-the-top tales of illicit trysts in London, ostrich leather jackets and overpriced antique rugs. Bankers, IRS agents and accountants have testified at length about how Manafort defrauded financial institutions and the U.S. government. Yet little attention has been paid to the constituency that perhaps suffered most from Manafort’s deeds: the people of Ukraine.the court documents detailing Manafort’s work for the country’s former president, Yanukovych defanged law enforcement and the courts, stifled the free press, undermined integration with the European Union, welcomed Kremlin influence and, along with his cronies, allegedly stole up to $100 billion from the country — equivalent to nearly 90 percent of Ukraine’s economic output last year. In March 2014, the U.S. Department of Treasury sanctioned Yanukovych as someone who contributed to destabilizing Ukraine, alongside his Russian allies. In this respect, Manafort also bears part of the blame for Russia’s  takeover of Crimea and Moscow’s bloody war in the east, which has claimed at least 10,000 lives and continues today.(2)>>Ukraine. Last  Sunday, Russian forces seized three Ukrainian vessels and their crews in the Black Sea.The Ukraine stand off this week makes it to our news media halfway twisted around . While it's now become the "normal" to blame Russia .  But Ukraine stick out like a sore thumb . It make no sense why our American government has taken sides with Ukraine . While trying to sift through how much "misinformation" has been said about Ukraine . Not many Americans know about Ukraine or its history .   Ukraine's courts are corrupt and have been proven to be unable to prosecute senior officials, politicians and oligarchs who are accused of abuse of office, corruption and other illegal acts. As much as Ukraine is concerned ANY AMERICAN should take  our governments support of that nation with sheer caution . Compare it with our support of Saudi Arabia , which has been at war with Yemen , bombing , creating a huge humanitarian crisis . [ case to write about in an up coming blog post] Ukraine is the same thing . Personally I believe Ukraine is behind trying to sabotage our relationship with Russia. If you read above , Manafort and Cohen Ukraine connections it gets to be more intriguing  . (3)>>What ANOTHER UKRAINIAN CONNECTION ?  Michael Cohen. Again no Russian connection , but a Ukrainian one .  Special counsel Robert S. Mueller III is reportedly investigating a visit by Cohen to Prague in 2016 — a trip that would match a detail of the Steele dossier. Mueller is also reportedly looking into a Russia-Ukraine peace proposal that was given to Cohen by a Ukrainian lawmaker and which Cohen gave to then-national security adviser Michael Flynn shortly before Flynn resigned.There’s a lot of noise over Cohen accepting $400,000 for trying to get President Petro Poroshenko a paltry few minutes with Trump during the Ukrainian’s visit to the United States last June. There’s some irony in Cohen taking that huge payoff, which angered Ukrainians dissatisfied with the inadequate result. Especially because the whole gang around Trump is, if anything, identified with Putin-friendly elements in Ukraine, not with the Ukrainian nationalists associated with Poroshenko.The most interesting thing that came out of the meeting was that, immediately afterwards, Ukraine stopped cooperating with Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into the activities of Trump’s former campaign manager, Paul Manafort, in Ukraine. So though Poroshenko may not have gotten anything much for his $400k, Trump-Manafort-Cohen-et al. certainly did. The larger context here is Cohen’s own strange and deep ties to Ukraine and Ukrainian money.  (4)>>disapproval of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump. A Ukrainian-American operative who was consulting for the Democratic National Committee met with top officials in the Ukrainian Embassy in Washington in an effort to expose ties between Trump, top campaign aide Paul Manafort and Russia, according to people with direct knowledge of the situation.The Ukrainian efforts had an impact in the race, helping to force Manafort’s resignation and advancing the narrative that Trump’s campaign was deeply connected to Ukraine’s foe to the east, Russia. But they were far less concerted or centrally directed than Russia’s alleged hacking and dissemination of Democratic emails. (5)>>BUT it gets STRANGER still .  We're supposed to be investigating Russian meddling, we got a guy paying off a hooker, we got a guy committing tax fraud. There's already an IRS -- why didn't the IRS get him for tax fraud? There's already an SEC and whoever else, why didn't they get Manafort for his bank fraud or the FBI? We already have agencies who are supposed to investigate this stuff. Why do we need a special prosecutor to investigate tax fraud? We don't.