Word around the campfire is that the FBI got Rudy’s devices because the devices could prove that Rudy was doing the Ukrainian oligarchs’ bidding in trying to have the fearless corruption-fighting Ambassador, Maria Yovanovitch, removed and replaced by a loyalist. Rudy pushed for the change. Remember what Trump said? “She’s going to go through some things.” She did.

But Rudy never registered as a Ukrainian agent. It is legal for one to lobby the United States government on behalf of another country if one is registered as a lobbyist for that country. The lobbying must be out in the open. If one doesn’t register, and it’s kept under wraps, one is basically a foreign agent, akin to a spy, loyal to another country’s priorities.

So that’s the crime,  or at least that’s the going theory.

But that’s almost a crime of convenience because it’s just so damned obvious. The real goal, however, is to get into those devices in order to see who else might have been working U.S. policy on behalf of other countries, and that brings us to Kushner (especially), and to a lesser extent, Don Jr., and Bill Barr into play. There are, of course, other crimes that could have been committed, but the foreign entanglement is likely the biggest.

It makes sense and that’s why Michael Cohen believes that Rudy and Trump are in serious trouble. As the dominoes fall, each will be ready to turn on the big one. No doubt, Rudy is dumb enough to tweet, text, and say the stupidest shit out loud or hardly hidden. But he’s also smart enough to have his “insurance policy,” as he bragged about when Trump was still president. His insurance policy might be interesting.

Michael Cohen appeared on MSNBC to lay it out:

“Well, here is my thoughts on that. They’ve used the Maria Yovanovitch issue in order to obtain the warrant. Now they have a treasure trove of information on Rudy’s cellphones and computer, and they’re going to be able to dig through all of that information.

Correct.

Rest assured, this is not about Maria Yovanovitch. This is not just about Ukraine — this could be about a multitude of other issues, you know, that shady Rudy has been involved with. As I always say, this is just the icing on the cake when it comes to the Southern District of New York review of what is going to be probably inside of Rudy’s cellphones. He’ll probably have information and contact with Bill Barr, with Jared Kushner, with Don [Trump] Jr.

Correct.

“There could be issues regarding the illegal pardons that were given out. Who knows what is in there? You know who knows? The Southern District of New York and they don’t play fair. The funny — the irony here is that Rudy was the one who created that playbook for the Southern District to really take this gangster tactic, you know, against individuals that they’re prosecuting. They’re really not prosecuting, they’re convicting.

Correct. It was Rudy who really went after the Five Families from the Italian Mafia in New York.

Okay, but we’ve been down this road before, where we’re sure that information about Trump’s real dealings, including that little f’ing weasel Jared Kushner, would explode out from the New York Times or the SDNY. It never happened. So why would everyone believe differently this time?

Donald Trump is not president. Bill Barr is not attorney general. Jared Kushner is just some spoiled ultra-rich trash in Florida. They are doing nothing but sitting and waiting. Nervously. We said “word around the campfire”? Yes, well, the campfire is the New York Times, the Washington Post, and a lot of leaks out of DOJ. That’s a nice fire.

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Peace, y’all
Jason
[email protected] and on Twitter @JasonMiciak