
Lawsplainer: The Manafort/Gates Indictment - Natsu
https://www.popehat.com/2017/10/30/lawsplainer-the-manafortgates-indictment/
======
michaelchisari
Big stuff, but the George Papadopoulos plea deal may be the bigger story.

~~~
IgorPartola
It seems like Papadopoulos is small fish here that will be used to get
incriminating info on larger targets. He also confirms that this isn't just
about taxes and money laundering when it comes to Manafort. And my guess is
that Manafort isn't the final target of the investigation either.

------
Overtonwindow
As a lobbyist in DC I think an interest facet glazed over by many is the FARA
filings. FARA, the Foreign Agents Registration Act, is similar to the law
which requires lobbyists (like me) to register with Congress. It tells the
government who you are, whom you're lobbying for, money, etc.

FARA is rarely enforced, and LDA enforcement is almost nonexistent. Both carry
stiff penalties, but I see LDA and FARA enforcement as this extra thing that
if you really want to stick it to someone, charge them with failing to file. I
know many, many, MANY companies, nonprofits (especially), and other
organizations, that flagrantly violate the LDA laws without worry. Unless
you're caught on something else, few pay attention, and few in the beltway
care. It's time LDAs and FARA filings are enforced, investigated, and those
that violate the law, charged.

~~~
Sangermaine
Mueller is hitting Manafort with everything to provide maximum leverage to
flip him. I just hope Mueller has considered bringing state charges somewhere
if possible, because there is a very real chance Trump will try to use the
pardon power to get out of this.

------
philipov
Why is there no mention of the manafort indictment on the front page? It seems
like there's something blocking all posts about this...

~~~
AlexandrB
From HN's posting guidelines:

> Off-Topic: Most stories about politics, or crime, or sports, unless they're
> evidence of some interesting new phenomenon.

While this makes sense since this is not a political forum, I think the HN
mods enforce this to a fault. Some political events are definitely big enough
to warrant attention here.

~~~
bryanlarsen
It's likely not mods, it's likely just users hitting the 'flag' link.

If it gets killed and you disagree with that, use the 'vouch' link to vote for
bringing it back.

Some basic level of karma is necessary for those two links to appear.

------
forapurpose
I've seen Popehat around, and in my mind I associate them with a partisan or
at least ideological point-of-view. Is that fair? Who are they?

~~~
Danihan
They are libertarian so they generally align with more conservative / right
viewpoints.

That being said, they seem to be fairly unbiased, in my view.

~~~
Natsu
There are multiple authors there, actually. One of the more libertarian ones
split off a while back. Ken is more liberal. They generally stick to the facts
and avoid ideology in most articles.

This one is a pretty neutral explanation of the grand jury process that I
think is quite informative for most people.

