By Judi McLeod —— Bio and Archives May 9, 2018
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Update: Three hours after the publication of this story, Schneiderman resigned from his position. “While these allegations are unrelated to my professional conduct or the operations of the office, they will effectively prevent me from leading the office’s work at this critical time,” he said in a statement. “I therefore resign my office, effective at the close of business on May 8, 2018.” (New Yorker)The Story Behind the Story is that on August 31, 2017 Mueller made an alliance with Schneiderman, that, according to Vanity Fair magazine, was guaranteed to “terrify Trump”.
“This appears to be Mueller’s plan. On Thursday, Politico reported that Mueller has teamed up with New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman’s office. Mueller and Schneiderman have reportedly begun sharing evidence from their parallel probes into Paul Manafort, Trump’s former campaign chairman. Manafort, who has long-standing financial ties to Russian interests, has been a focus in the F.B.I. investigation since last summer, but he has come under heightened scrutiny in recent months. Federal investigators have issued a number of subpoenas to associates of the longtime political operative and at the end of last month conducted a raid on his home, reportedly seeking documents. (Manafort has not been accused of any crime and has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.) (Vanity Fair, Aug. 31 2017) “Prosecutors worried that the possibility of a presidential pardon might allow Manafort to avoid working with investigators. But leaning on Schneiderman’s office to bring charges against the former campaign chairman could force his cooperation. The New York attorney general’s office is also said to be in the early stages of a probe into the Trump Organization’s business transactions. “One of the people familiar with progress on the case said both Mueller’s and Schneiderman’s teams have collected evidence on financial crimes, including potential money laundering,” according to Politico’s Josh Dawsey. “The Mueller-Schneiderman coalition also represents the pairing of two Trump foes. Schneiderman, who on several occasions has found himself on the receiving end of the president’s attacks, won a $25 million settlement against Trump University after a long class-action fraud investigation. The Jared Kushner-owned New York Observer also published a memorably critical hit piece on the New York A.G., in which he was portrayed as a character in the dystopian novel A Clockwork Orange. The 1921 Martin Act gives New York’s top prosecutor additional powers to fight financial fraud, which could make it much easier to build a case.”While the world of high politics was still reeling in shock that the very man who found a snug home in the #MeToo movement was being accused of physically abusing women, Tucker Carlson was revisiting Donald Trump’s Twitter prediction that Schneiderman would be the next New York official to fall in public disgrace:
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Judi McLeod is an award-winning journalist with 30 years’ experience in the print media. A former Toronto Sun columnist, she also worked for the Kingston Whig Standard. Her work has appeared on Rush Limbaugh, Newsmax.com, Drudge Report, Foxnews.com.