We are still waiting for the Justice Department and the FBI to produce documents subpoenaed by the House Intelligence Committee on the anti-Trump dossier compiled by British intelligence operative Christopher Steele, and funded by the Hillary Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee.    As Wall Street Journal columnist, William McGurn, indicated in his October 30 column,that thanks to the persistence of the House Intelligence Committee, we may yet learn whether the Hillary Clinton campaign "was able to leverage opposition research based on Russian disinformation to bring about an FBI investigation" of the Trump campaign.

That the Obama administration, working with the Clinton campaign might have turned the FBI into a partisan instrument for the purpose of determining the outcome of the 2016 presidential election is, of course, of no interest to the anti-Trump coalition of disgruntled Bushies and lefties.  Consider their rush to underscore the significance of the money-laundering charge brought against Paul Manafort by special counsel (grand inquisitor would perhaps be more apt) Robert S. Mueller III. According to the dictionary, money laundering is "The process of taking the proceeds of criminal activity and making them appear legal."   

New York Times columnist Michelle Goldberg, in her October 31 column, referred to  Manafort  as an accused  "money-launderer."  She was silent, however, as to the nature of the activity from which Manafort derived the funds he allegedly laundered. But then, according to the indictment, Goldberg was given no basis as  to what the money laundering charge entailed. 

The money laundering charge is Count Two of the 12-Count indictment brought against Manafort and Richard Gates -- in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. The count mentions "the process of some form of unlawful activity," but offers scant, if any, details.

Count Two does allege that the money laundering occurred from 2006 to 2016.  It should be noted that Mueller was FBI director from September 4, 2001 to September 4, 2013. Where was the FBI for seven of the ten years of Manafort's  alleged money laundering?

And, as William McGurn, among others, pointed out, what does a money laundering charge against Paul Manafort have to do with Mueller's mandate to probe Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election?

The indictment brought by Mueller is very much in the spirit of this Halloween, as, clearly, it seeks to turn President Trump into the meanest of hobgoblins, who must be removed from office. Goldberg, desperate to divert attention from the real culprits, asserted in her October 31 Times column "it's sometimes hard to grasp the Trump campaign's conspiracy against our democracy," and libeled the president "more gangster than entrepreneur." For the neo-totalitarian left, however, the election of a president loathed by leftists is the actual offense, committed by the American people - demeaned, derided and dismissed by the left and their GOP Never Trump allies.

Indeed, the conspiracy against our democracy and  our democratic institutions is the work of the anti-Trump crowd, desperate to maintain as myth, rather than reality, the concept of government of, by and for the people. Attorney General  Jeff Sessions must see to it  that the Justice Department and FBI comply with all congressional subpoenas on Russiagate  if our country is to remain on the democratic straight and narrow.