Judge Ellis let the Manafort jurors go home at 5pm, because one of them had an evening engagement…
Great guy, barely know him, terrific individual https://t.co/jPW1muaft6
— Rebecca Ingber (@becingber) August 17, 2018
Meanwhile, looks like this is the next guy up:
SCOOP via @CarolLeonnig @devlinbarrett @nakashimae @jdawsey1 ->
GOP fundraiser Broidy under investigation for alleged effort to sell government influence, people familiar with probe say https://t.co/ihfVXnyhW7
— Matea Gold (@mateagold) August 17, 2018
The Justice Department is investigating whether longtime Republican fundraiser Elliott Broidy sought to sell his influence with the Trump administration by offering to deliver U.S. government actions for foreign officials in exchange for tens of millions of dollars, according to three people familiar with the probe.
As part of the investigation, prosecutors are scrutinizing a plan that Broidy allegedly developed to try to persuade the Trump government to extradite a Chinese dissident back to his home country, a move sought by Chinese President Xi Jinping, according to two of the people.
They are also investigating claims that Broidy sought $75 million from a Malaysian business official if the Justice Department ended its investigation of a development fund run by the Malaysian government. The Malaysian probe has examined the role of the former prime minister in the embezzlement of billions of dollars from the fund…
As part of their efforts, prosecutors have subpoenaed casino magnate Steve Wynn, the former RNC finance chairman and longtime Trump friend, for copies of records and communications related to Broidy.
An attorney for Wynn, Reid Weingarten, declined to comment, saying only that Wynn is cooperating with the Justice Department.
“Steve Wynn is completely cooperating with the investigation and he certainly has no reason to believe that anyone acted improperly in anything he knew about or was involved in,” Weingarten said in a statement…
Yes, these links have been reported before (read the whole thing!), but if the Justice Department is officially looking into the details of transactions between high-ranking Chinese officials, Malaysian businessmen with grift-friendly reputations, and big-time American casino operators looking to set up business in Hong Kong / Singapore / Shanghai… things are about to get UUUUUUGHHLY.
(And that’s not even considering the Saudi finance connection, FWIW.)
*two weeks later* "We never said anything about what his security firm, consulting firm, real estate holding company, and personal loan-out may or may not have agreed to." https://t.co/ASfnMV3phb
— southpaw (@nycsouthpaw) August 18, 2018
Russiagate Open Thread: Late Friday News Drop…Post + Comments (82)