Thursday open thread: This is my shocked face

File this under "no shit, Sherlock":

Federal prosecutors in New York involved in the criminal investigation into Donald Trump’s social media company last year started examining whether it violated money laundering statutes in connection with the acceptance of $8m with suspected Russian ties, according to sources familiar with the matter.

The company – Trump Media, which owns Trump’s Truth Social platform – initially came under criminal investigation over its preparations for a potential merger with a blank check company called Digital World (DWAC) that was also the subject of an earlier investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Towards the end of last year, federal prosecutors started examining two loans totaling $8m wired to Trump Media, through the Caribbean, from two obscure entities that both appear to be controlled in part by the relation of an ally of Russian president Vladimir Putin, the sources said.

(By the way, see what I did there? Huh? See it? Yeah, you did.)

Right now, as Trevor posted yesterday, the question isn't "if" Trump will be indicted, but just how many cases he'll be fighting over the coming two years. The question also isn't "if" Trump will be imprisoned, but for how many different crimes.

And can we just say that it all returns to Russia? Russia, Russia, Russia. Trump is as much of a sniveling coward with Vladimir Putin as Lindsey Graham is with Trump. Perhaps if Trump had more self-respect, he wouldn't be in this predicament. But for all his bravado, at heart Trump is a small, little man, seeking approval from all and sundry. And a man like Putin—a real dictator, one who can actually impose his will upon his nation—or at least try to, and so far successfully—is like a flame to Trump's moth. Of course, you know what happens to moths who get too close to the fire. For all his masculine bullshit, Trump is a bottom pretending to be a top. In men like Putin and Kim Jong-Un and Xi Jinping, Trump sees what he wants to be, and what this Republic will never allow him to be. 

Sure, Eugene Debs ran for president from prison. I don't think Trump will be afforded the same luxury. And Debs, for all his faults, was a much better man than Trump can ever imagine.

I, for one, am going to get a large consignment of popcorn. And maybe some Johnnie Walker Blue Label.

This is your open thread.

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