Swampy

NBC broke the story yesterday (link here) that Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who leads the criminal investigation into the President and his associates, is exploring whether Donald Trump's former campaign chairman Paul Manafort promised a banker a White House job in return for approving $16 million in three home loans made right after the election. Manafort has already been indicted on a variety of criminal charges.

The article notes how rank-and-file bank officials questioned details of the loans, including "at least one of the bank employees who felt pressured into approving the deals" and who has now spoken to Mueller's team.

This matter raises several important issues if true. First and foremost, did Trump know about such promises? Promising financial reward in return for loan approval is a crime. Did Manafort tell the President he was doing this?

If Trump knew, that puts him both a very bad light and also potentially opens up criminal charges against him, too.

If Trump did not know, then that nonetheless reflects badly on him that he would employ someone who resorted to criminality without a second thought.

Whether or not Trump knew, this revelation renders even more ludicrous his promise to "drain the swamp." The Trump administration is probing new lows -- no one in President Obama's administration was ever accused of trading jobs for loan approval.

Mueller has continued tightening the screws on Manafort since he was first indicted. Just this week, he filed sealed charges against Trump's campaign manager, meaning the court has seen them but not the public (details here).

Is Mueller making Manafort's case more and more dire to pressure him into flipping on Trump and testifying against him? Let's hope so. Time will tell.

Stay tuned.