POLITICUSUSA

The Russia investigation was lost for Trump almost from the very beginning because one of the first things that Mueller did was get his tax returns.

Chuck Rosenberg said on MSNBC’s Deadline: White House, “No question in my mind from day one, Nicolle. The first thing white-collar prosecutors do — Dan knows this, and I was one — is you get tax returns and you get credit reports and the reason you get those two things — and they’re not hard to get, you get tax returns with an order from a federal judge, you get credit reports with a grand jury subpoena, is because those are the documents that give you leads. They tell you where the money is coming from and going and they tell you who to talk to to get more leads. So does Mueller have Trump’s tax you bet.”

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The bombshells are dropping left and right, as it looks like what is going to bring Trump down may be financial crimes. The Russia scandal is often treated as separate from the Cohen crimes, but scandals have one common thread at their core. They are both about money and financial crimes. Trump was compromised by the Russians through money laundering. Trump tried to hide his affairs with felony financial crimes.

Robert Mueller has had Trump’s tax returns from the day that his investigation began. Trump could try to shut down Mueller tomorrow, but the damage has already been done. Robert Mueller knows what Trump has done and how Trump did it.

Trump can keep fighting, but his battle to keep his crimes secret was already over before it started.

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