"So here's a big clue. Roger Stone has not been subpoenaed by the Mueller grand jury, which means that he's a target likely to be prosecuted," Paul Butler said.
December 22, 2018

Joy Reid introduced a panel discussion on the Mueller investigation winding down.

"We've got the Mueller investigation which is Russian influence, Wikileaks, Mideast influence on the campaign, Manafort, Trump Tower-Moscow, Trump's associates, contact with Russia, and firing Comey. That's Mueller," she rattled off.

"And obstruction of justice," Corn said.

"Regarding firing Comey and then you go to the Southern District of New York. You've got campaign conspiracy, inaugural funding, the super PAC's funding and foreign lobby. And then you go to the other stuff like the Maria Butina and the NRA stuff. There's so many investigations at this point. Tax payments, Trump Foundation that New York is investigating, the emoluments clause. There are so many investigations right now targeting Donald Trump, is there a through-line tying them all together? I think for a lot of people, it's so confusing that it's not clear what's the main thing being investigated," Reid said.

"And I feel like we should say, 'And that's all the time we have right now,'" David Corn joked.

"There are so many hammers waiting to fall, and the through-line is corruption and dishonesty. Trump has claimed again and again, he's the most ethical guy around and we have the Trump Organization and the Trump Foundation really in the crosshairs. We have his fixer going to jail. His long-term lawyer is going to jail in a criminal conspiracy that the prosecutors say happened at the direction of Donald Trump. And then we have all the Russia stuff, where it's clear every day, I mean, it's already proven he betrayed America by engaging in the conflict of interest in dealing with Putin's office and the Trump Tower, while campaigning, for a Trump Tower project in Moscow and telling the American public, 'I stayed away from Russia.'

"He lied about his engagement with Russia during the campaign and afterward. So again and again and again, the only thing that's in his favor is that there's so much, it's hard to keep track of, and each and every one of them a SUPER-scandal in its own right, but put together, they don't all get their due. And you lose track of that through-line."

Reid agreed, and said, "And I guess that's the question for a lot of people, Paul. Because as a former prosecutor, does there have to be an overall big narrative? if you had to have one, you could say Donald Trump was willing to do anything to become president because he saw the marketing possibilities of running and maybe becoming president, building a Trump Tower, there was money at the end of the rainbow, but does there have to be a story that's that neat? Or can prosecutors just go anywhere they want?"

"They can," Paul Butler said.

"It used to be Donald Trump was being double-teamed by the investigation in the Mueller situation and the Southern District of New York. When you look at these now, federal and state, criminal and administrative investigations, he's being at least quadruple-teamed. But when we're thinking about exposure, let's think about two people both named Donald Trump. So Donald Trump Jr., if he told the same lie to the Senate intelligence committee that Michael Cohen told, I don't see how he doesn't get prosecuted just like Michael Cohen was. For Donald Trump Sr., it's about Roger Stone.

"So here's a big clue. Roger Stone has not been subpoenaed by the Mueller grand jury, which means that he's a target likely to be prosecuted. If he's prosecuted and flips like everyone else has flipped -- Papadopoulos, Gates, Manafort, Cohen-- and he tells Mueller that Trump Sr. was involved in coordinating the release of the Wikileaks e-mail, that email that was damaging to Hillary Clinton, that was released at all these times that were perfect for the Trump campaign, if Donald Trump Sr. was involved in that, than he's a co-conspirator with the Russians who were indicted for Wikileaks."

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