Paul Manafort lived big for years and years, lobbying or representing or whatever it's called for foreign governments, and he didn't seem to be too particular about his clients in terms of their philosophical leanings, as long as the checks cleared. And they cleared � in the millions and millions of dollars.
But then, in the summer of 2016, Manafort succumbed to a big temptation, to run the campaign of Donald Trump, an improbable leader in the race for the Republican nomination for president. And now, Manafort may owe his indictment on conspiracy, money laundering and tax charges to that higher profile.
Manafort had to leave the campaign in August of last year after a brief time at the helm because he was under scrutiny for representing Russian interests in the Ukraine. That surely was one factor in Manafort and his former associate Rick Gates falling under the eyes of Robert Mueller, the no-nonsense former FBI director now conducting an independent investigation of the Trump campaign's alleged ties to Russia and Russia's alleged attempts to influence the 2016 campaign.
Mueller is a serious man. Manafort knows that and it will be interesting to see how he and Gates, also indicted and taken into federal custody, will respond in terms of cooperating with Mueller's far-ranging investigation or going another way, denying everything and fighting it all through court.
Make no mistake, this is about as close to the Trump campaign as Mueller could get, and already there have been public discussions about Donald Trump Jr.'s meeting with Russian associates for the purpose of "opposition research" on Trump's opponent, Hillary Clinton.
For his part, Trump responded as Trump responds: with outrageous tweets saying the investigation should be looking at Hillary Clinton's emails and other issues and that Republicans were focused on tax cuts. The president's more calm and realistic associates are doubtless mortified that not even the indictment of his former campaign leader can stem Trump's impulsive emails and tweets. But the risk is that Trump may become so outraged that he will fire Mueller, thus setting off a confrontation with Congress and a constitutional crisis.
What's certain is that the indictments so far � likely to open the doors on tens of millions of dollars in business Manafort and his associates did with foreign interests over many years � are only the beginning. That is disquieting, of course, for average Americans, who would like to see their country calm down from bombastic politics � Trump's been in office nine months, after all � and move ahead with answering infrastructure needs and helping families improve their personal economics and job security.
The one positive thing that can be said about the Mueller probe and this latest development is that it is evidence again of the strength of this Republic. Partisanship cannot stop the march of truth in this democracy. And a president locked away in the upper floors of the White House cannot stop it, either, with tweets and outbursts against the political foes he long ago defeated but with whom he remains obsessed. That is Donald Trump's obsession.
But Robert Mueller's obsession is truth-seeking. And he is strongly in pursuit.
