Where Are the Crimes?

By Derek Hunter It was Christmas in August for liberals on Tuesday when Paul Manafort was convicted on 8 of 18 charges and Michael Cohen pleaded guilty to tax bank and campaign finance violations. Suits were soiled with glee at all the left wing activist organizations the DNC DSCC DCCC CNN MSNBC etc. They all collectively thought theyd nailed Trump" because the two men were associated with the president. One thing no one seems to understand or more importantly hope their audiences dont understand is that none of what transpired Tuesday actually implicates Donald Trump in a crime of any sort. The Manafort case is pretty straightforward everything he was charged with let alone convicted of happened years before hed ever met then candidate Donald Trump. Unless someone involved has a time machine it would be impossible for the president to have been involved with anything illegal with Manafort. Its not being portrayed that way. Journalists who just a week ago engaged in a mass anti-Trump protest to declare themselves arbiters of truth wont portray it that way. The story is and will be covered as if Manafort was in Trumps inner circle of advisors not a guy hired to manage the Republican National Convention and stave off any challenges to the nomination (which there were and he successfully ended). Every story about these tax and banking convictions will mention that Manafort was Trumps campaign manager. What they wont mention is how long he was campaign manager about 2 months and how quickly he was fired once questions about his foreign lobbying came to light. Those facts dont fit the narrative that Trump is surrounded by criminals; that his campaign and business are no different than the Mafia. When complete facts get in the way of the impression liberals want to give an audience they are conveniently ignored. The truth is pretty simple: Manafort was tried and convicted on these charges for the simple reason that Special Counsel Robert Mueller wanted to apply pressure in the hope that he would flip" on Trump. Flip on what isnt really known nor does it matter. Mueller wants the president the left wants the president to be implicated in a crime any crime. So Manafort faced a possible 305 years for tax evasion a charge that carries an average sentence of just over a year for mortals not associated with the No. 1 target of liberals. It doesnt really matter if Manafort goes to prison he broke the law and should. But dont ever fool yourself into thinking he is some kind of criminal mastermind who should spend the rest of his life in prison. Hes only facing that because hes in the way of people who want to destroy a president they hate. Michael Cohen is a different story but only slightly. Cohen was one of the presidents personal lawyers when he was in the private sector. Aside from rambling on TV from time to time Cohen was never going to enter the political world thats not what he does or what hes made for. He too didnt pay taxes and had issues with banking laws the specifics of which are irrelevant because they again have nothing to do with Trump. What is relevant or at least liberals are trying to make relevant to Trump is the campaign finance violations he pleaded guilty to Tuesday. Cohen admitted to paying a porn star and a Playboy Playmate to keep quiet about alleged affairs with Donald Trump back in 2006. Awful if true but irrelevant on the big picture. Trump wasnt elected Pope and no one is under any delusions that he led a moral and faithful married life in the past its a big part of why this New York real estate developer was known beyond the confines of Manhattan. Not a shock. But in the guilty plea Cohen claims he committed campaign finance law violations to influence the election." This is where the wheels come off. It doesnt matter what Cohen thought he was doing or why he thought he was doing it what matters is the law. If Donald Trump had Cohen pay off these women then paid him back thats not illegal. Anyone even a politician can pay off anyone they want to keep quiet. Cohens plea says he did it to influence the election but his motivation is irrelevant. What matters is the money. If Trump paid to have his lawyer keep these women quiet he was allowed to. Theoretically he wouldnt have wanted this public because hes married with children and he was running for president and didnt want it to be an issue. Whether he did it or not doesnt matter what matters is if he used campaign funds to pay Cohen or he paid out of his own pocket. Hes allowed to pay people to sign non-disclosure agreements on any topic as long as the money comes out of his bank accounts or that of his business no matter the motivation (though hed have several unrelated to the campaign). He cant use campaign funds to pay Cohen or pay himself back and theres no indication that he did. Youd never know this important deal-breaking distinction if you just watched the Democratic media. They blurred the line between the two like it was Obamas red line in Syria. It may not seem like much of a difference but it makes all the difference in the world. Reporters know this Democrats know this theyre hoping you dont. Theyre hoping you think Donald Trump did something illegal when in reality he did something immoral…12 years ago and didnt want it to become public for many reasons. So where are the crimes? Leftists cant point to any but they are implying the hell out of one. Thats dishonest and its not by accident. PS: I want to ask you to consider picking up a copy of my book Outrage INC: How the Liberal Mob Ruined Science Journalism and Hollywood." It explains the why and how of what the left does in ways that havent been before and it does so with a lot of humor. Dont take my word for it take the words of Mark Levin Ann Coulter David Limbaugh Dana Loesch Dan Bongino Michelle Malkin Ben Shapiro Kurt Schlichter and countless others. Obviously I have an interest in selling you a copy of the book but they dont. Yet theyve all endorsed it. And for reasons I dont understand but am eternally grateful for people are still buying it. Youll love it trust me. Thank you.