Those of us on this side of the Atlantic always focused on the one guy that we figured could give Trump up – with respect to collusion with Russia – in two to three sentences, the same guy convicted of perjury and obstruction of justice (lying and evading), Roger Stone, the guy that Trump simply had to commute the sentence. Commute, meaning no sentence, Stone is still guilty.

Commute is an important distinction from “pardon.” Had Trump pardoned Stone, then Stone would lose all 5th Amendment protections and would have to talk about what he knew regarding Trump, Russia, Wikileaks and Assange.

By allowing Stone to go through trial, sentencing, all that, then commuting the sentence, Trump preserved Stone’s ability to claim the 5th Amendment and not talk.

And, speaking of Assange, it seems as though he may be making his way over to the United States, where he is a wanted man. If DOJ sought to implicate Trump with colluding with Russia, Assange is the other guy (other than Stone), who could tie Trump to colluding with Russia.

According to NBC News:

The [charges] are not based on WikiLeaks publishing Democratic Party emails hacked by the Russian government in support of Trump during the 2016 election. Even so, for his sake, Trump better hope that the notorious hacker and leaker never sets foot on U.S. soil. Because If the Department of Justice plays its cards right, it can make the case precisely about those Russian government hacks and WikiLeaks’ dissemination of the content of those hacks by offering a deal to Assange in return for what he knows.

That’s what should worry Trump and his allies.

Mueller wasn’t looking for the vague concept of “collusion” between the 2016 Trump campaign and Russia, but on provable evidence of a criminal conspiracy with Russia to affect the election…

…Assange may be able to close the gap between collusion and criminal conspiracy. Assange got the Democratic National Committee data dump from an entity long suspected to be a front for the GRU, the Russian military intelligence service. In fact, WikiLeaks actively sought them out. Why?

The Mueller team indicted 12 GRU officers for that hack. But what did candidate Trump know about the WikiLeaks–Russia connection, and when did he know it?

Ironic that all of this started out as an attempt to get dirt on Hillary by hacking the DNC computers. But the most important point?

 If Stone, or those around him, were in criminal communication with WikiLeaks, Assange would know. He also knows how much he told Trump confidants about where he was getting the hacked DNC emails from — that is, the GRU. And Assange could say if any Trump operative told him that Trump knew of the Russian connection.

Trump certainly did not need another thing to worry about, but now that it appears that Assange will – within the next year – be here in the United States, Trump must then really worry about the deal that DOJ could make with Assange because it might involve a conspiracy with a foreign nation, treason, to win an election.
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