Rick Gates Cops a Plea With Mueller; How It Leads Us to a Constitutional Crisis

The evidence against Rick Gates is overwhelming. The evidence against Paul Manafort is also definitive.

By turning Gates, Mueller is going to get additional insight into the collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russians. Since Gates and Manafort were actively working with Putin and his allies to circumvent US sanctions against Russia under the Magnitsky Act in late 2012 and 2013, Mueller is now also going to get lots of insight into Donald Trump’s active participation in those endeavors. While Wilbur Ross was also aware of these endeavors through his roll as the Chairman and the Bank of Cyprus, there is perhaps no other individual other than Rick Gates or Paul Manafort who can draw the lines so clearly for the government.

So, where does it lead?

Rick Gates’s plea could quickly lead us to a place where Mueller has to act before the midterm election to recommend impeachment against Trump for his treason, money laundering and tax evasion activities.

If Mueller brings these charges, should Mike Pence be allowed to take the oath of office when he himself may be under investigation for collusion and obstruction?

Then, the question becomes whether Paul Ryan should be allowed to take the oath just before a midterm election that is likely to be a referendum on the issue of Russian interference in 2016 and the NRA’s role in US politics when the Republicans will likely lose the House in November.

In a strange way, it could quickly become in the Democrats’ interest that Mueller slow things down a little until after the midterm elections, as a Constitutional crisis may be quick to erupt.

There are many reasons to be cautious about the stock market in 2018. A crisis like the one that is about to unfold in our government is just one more.