Russiagate, Now With Real Russian!

Working with the democrats again. I tell you, the Ohrs are in for it next. Ace:  What Was Hillary Clinton's Cut-Out Christopher Steele Doing Pallin' Around With a Putin-Linked Russian Oligarch Who Wasn't Allowed in the United States But Really Wanted that Prohibition Lifted?,

York reports many emails and calls between Steele and Ohr speaking sweetly of Steele's patron Deripaska.

Whoops, I mean his pal Deripaska! I certainly don't mean to suggest that this Gentleman Spy and Patriot was actually on the payroll of a Russian oligarch linked to Putin! Boy is my face red on that.

After a call between Ohr and Steele:

There is no note on what they discussed. But a few hours later, still on Oct. 18, Steele emailed Ohr again, and the subject was related to Deripaska. "Further to our Skypecon earlier today," Steele wrote, Hauser had asked Steele to forward to Ohr information about a dispute between the government of Ukraine and RUSAL, Deripaska's aluminum company. "Naturally, he [Hauser] wants to protect the client's [Deripaska's] interests and reputation," Steele wrote. "I pass it on for what it's worth."

We're passing State Department information to Putin-linked Russian oligarchs now?

So, was Christopher Steele being paid to do favors by his boss Deripaska before Hillary Clinton hired him to pay Russians for dirt on Trump? Wait, I didn't mean his boss Deripaska, I meant his bestie Deripaska.

and as brought to you by Wombat-socho in "In The Mailbox: 08.09.18", Power Line informs us that Steele, Simpson, and Ohr linked with Russian oligarch. Citing Byron York:

The Russian oligarch in question, Oleg Deripaska, is quite a guy. Years ago, the U.S. revoked Deripaska’s visa, reportedly on the basis of suspected involvement with Russian organized crime. In addition, Deripaska was close to Paul Manafort. Most significantly, Deripaska is one of the Russians sanctioned this year by the Trump administration due to Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential election. Yet, as Byron’s report shows, Christoper Steele, author of the anti-Trump dossier, was Deripaska’s advocate before an apparently sympathetic Bruce Ohr, the number four person in the Obama Justice Department.

Byron concludes:

The emails raise a clear question of whether Steele was working, directly or indirectly, with Oleg Deripaska at the same time Steele was compiling the dossier — and whether the Justice Department, along with Simpson and Fusion GPS, was part of the project.

I agree.

No wonder the Ohrs know all about Russian collusion. They were part of it. Everybody seems to have their own Russian oligarch. I want one too!

Wombat-socho's "In The Mailbox: 08.08.18" also passes along this useful The DNC Leaks and Crossfire Hurricane: A Timeline from Leo Goldstein at The American Thinker.

The media's and the Democratic Party's obsession with the Trump-Russia conspiracy theory originates from events of April-June 2016. Media operations by the Democratic Party and its media echo chamber have distorted not only the information about the relevant events, but even the background political picture of April 2016.

The DNC and Hillary constructed a conspiracy theory in which Putin ordered the hacking of the DNC network and subsequent mass distribution of the exfiltrated documents to help Trump beat Hillary. Such actions were against Russian interests and very unusual for Russian intelligence.

Driven by their conspiracy theory, Hillary indulged in anti-Russian rhetoric, and the Obama administration drove relations with Russia to the worst point in the last 40 years. Since the elections, the Democrats, the hard left, and the institutions owned by them have been pushing Trump to aggravate the conflict, started by Obama and Hillary. But let's proceed in chronological order . . . 

Althouse commentary on  "[T]he president is only partially correct in saying that the meeting with Trump Jr. is 'done all the time in politics.'"

Writes Jonathan Turley at The Hill.

The media has largely ignored that Hillary Clinton and her campaign spent a huge amount of money to fund the efforts of former British spy Christopher Steele to gather dirt on Trump, including information from the Russian government and intelligence figures...
. . .
If the Russians had evidence of criminal conduct by Hillary Clinton, her campaign or her family foundation, the Trump campaign had every reason to want to know about it. That is precisely what the Clinton campaign spent millions to do, talking to Russians and other foreigners investigating Trump....
In the end, the Trump Tower controversy is not based on “fake news” as claimed by the president, but the federal crime alleged by the media is based on fake law.

"Fake law" is a great catchphrase. You could just say that somebody is wrong about the law. But "fake law" plays into our present-day anxieties so well.

 Also at Althouse: "Special counsel Robert Mueller’s team of prosecutors have spent several days building what many legal experts consider a slam-dunk case against President Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort."

"But it has been surprisingly hard going at times, and as they prepare to rest their case by the week's end, they bear battle wounds that Manafort’s lawyers are sure to exploit as they mount their defense," Politico reports.

Most notably, Manafort’s attorneys have painted the prosecution’s star witness, Rick Gates, as a serial liar, embezzler and philanderer who — as a defense lawyer asserted in court on Wednesday — engaged in four extramarital affairs.
Several other setbacks have come courtesy of the cantankerous presiding federal judge, T.S. Ellis III... The judge also seemed to give credence to Manafort’s argument that he did not keep close enough track of his money to commit knowing fraud and tax evasion.
“Mr. Manafort was very good about knowing where the money is and knowing where to spend it,” Gates said.
“Well, he missed the amounts of money you stole from him, though, didn't he?” the judge said.
Gates conceded that was true.
“So, he didn't do it that closely,” the judge quipped, to some laughter in the courtroom....

CNN:  Mueller request signals Gates may still be cooperating. He'd better be, if he still wants his immunity deals. Still, it looks like there may be something they want besides Manafort. Something that rhymes with "Stump"?

Dave Boyer at WaEx: Trump's lawyers counter-offer Mueller's request for interview, demand quick end to probe Yeah, give us Hillary's deal and don't ask anything mean. Harry Litman at WaPo thinks it's Time for Mueller to bring out the big guns and subpoena Trump. Did Trump just hint at firing Mueller? by Bob Fredericks at the NYPo.

“This is an illegally brought Rigged Witch Hunt run by people who are totally corrupt and/or conflicted. It was started and paid for by Crooked Hillary and the Democrats. Phony Dossier, FISA disgrace and so many lying and dishonest people already fired. 17 Angry Dems? Stay tuned!” he tweeted.

While the meaning of “Stay tuned!” was not immediately clear, the conservative media websites Daily Caller and Breitbart speculated that it meant that Mueller — a Republican appointed by a Republican — or members of his team could be toast.

Trump says a lot of things, just to get the negotiation going his way. Will it work? Stay tuned!

Chris Pandolfo at Conservative Review: Levin: Giving Mueller power to indict a president would be an ‘abomination’.

“For one prosecutor, a myopically obsessed prosecutor to reverse that entire process, to denude us of the outcome of the election, to undo an election, to try and remove a president is an abomination. It’s unconscionable,” he said.

Levin said that for any unaccountable, unelected prosecutor to be able to subpoena, cross-examine, or indict a president at will is an “absolute evisceration of our constitutional order.”

But I'm pretty sure he doesn't have it.