Conspiracy. Collusion is not a thing.

The FBI knows that, Bill Barr knows, too.

A place so nice, they named it twice. New York, New York. Famous for so much, the Empire State has Broadway, Wall Street, Chinatown, Harlem, 57th Street, Rockefeller Center and mobsters. Glamorous mobsters of Long Island fame and low level ones along the waterfront and everything inbetween. Until the 1980’s and into the early 1990’s “the mob” was run by families attributed to Italy or Italian descent, from which the Godfather movies and other tales of familial bonds and otherworldly pacts of allegiance were woven.

McGonigal in his perp walk.

Garbage trucks rolled and cement was poured in legitimate business attributed to the mob as drugs, thefts and crime were significant pieces to the City, as was homelessness and gentrification, the destruction of cheaper buildings for taller sky scraping ones.

Every successful business should watch their back as the new kid who rolls into town may not want to join, but simply overtake a smaller fish in a gulp by a bigger more sophisticated fish. Sometimes the bigger fish needs a little help. The Russian “mob” saw New York as prime real estate and sought to push out the Italian crime syndicate with the best help available, the police, the FBI and the Mayors office. Giuliani who became mayor in 1994 was tasked with cleaning up crime in the big apple, saw in a bold new chapter for NY. This is the ground for the unfolding stories in todays news of continued corruption.

Trump, it is well documented, was in real estate, in the 80’s and 90’s, building and in the beginning of his career. Trump hoped to make the leap into the Manhattan market leaving his fathers Queens legacy behind. One bridge or tunnel away, yet in the eyes of New Yorker’s, a lesser world, a world away. Notorious for being a bully, cutting corners, non payment of bills, Trump built his brand on shaky ground always ripe for doing things under the radar and with a wink and a nod.

Charles McGonigal, former top ranking FBI official was arrested Saturday, January 21, 2023 for a variety of charges including “taking secret payments” (reported by USA Today, in polite talk for taking bribes, a more firm contractural arrangement) from Oleg Deripaska, associate of Putin. The same Deripaska we heard of during of during the run up to the 2016 election where Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton both vied for the presidential brass ring.

McGonigal was to investigate Oleg Deripaska for interference in the election, in addition, we know now, was on that Russians payroll. Charles McGonigal may be the central figure of the FBI decision to make the fateful announcement that Hillary’s emails (yes, butter-emails) although the emails in question were not assessed to be significant, but still, but only in an abundance of caution….

Comey made the announcement a week prior to the election and it was just one way in which the election was compromised. The New York Times followed up with handwringing, serious handwringing whose message was from an anonymous source “no evidence has emerged to link him in his business” … “or political circle that tie (Trump) to Russias elections operations. At least one part of the operations has been linked to Paul Manafort, but that investigation led to a kleptocratic government in Ukraine.” Nothing to see there. None of it felt fine at the time. Chest puffing and nose snorts abounded with the Trump and republican crowd which seemed far more polite then than now.

A story that has only begun in relevance. Dig deep enough in this story and it will shine light on two coups. One in 2016 and another in 2020, both by Donald Trump and friends.

Marjory Taylor Green shown above “cheating” with Speaker McCarthy.

Speaking of elections, Marjory Green’s bid for VP with Trump run of 2024 feels like Dad coming home from Vegas and announcing, “I’m home!!! Come on downstairs sweetie! Meet your new stepmom, MARJORY TAYLOR GREEN.” On the bright side, we have seen what happens to people that hitch their wagon to the Trump train. Arrest, sanctions, prison.

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