Hillary. In a word, that’s what Trump supporters are saying about the Manafort trial when you bring up the fact that Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman is on trial for conspiracy against the United States, for failing to register himself as a foreign agent, and for money laundering.
The money he was laundering was paid to him, in part, by a pro-Russian Ukrainian politician. Manafort’s associate, Rick Gates, who is currently rolling over on his friend Manafort, also served a prominent role in Trump’s campaign.
Forget everything else. Forget Trump’s public fellating of Vladimir Putin, and his sons taking secret meetings with Russian agents. Forget the Kusher families ties to Ukraine. Forget that Trump’s former National Security Advisor, Michael Flynn, has been indicted on felony counts of lying to the FBI in order to cover up the ties to Russia. 
Remain willfully ignorant on all of that, along with most everything else in the world, but answer this one question honestly:
What would you say, as a Trump supporter, if Hillary Clinton had won the election, and her former campaign manager had been put on trial for conspiring against the United States?
You guys are super patriotic right? Wouldn’t you have a problem with that? Here’s what you would say: Impeach Her, Lock Her Up, and Honey, We Ran Out Of Mountain Dew.
The lock her up chants were based mostly on the 2012 attack on two US government facilities in Benghazi, Libya, when Hillary was serving as Secretary of State. (I would bet that less than one percent of anyone who ever chanted Lock Her Up could articulate the basic premise of their outrage over this event.) Also, she installed a private email server in her home, and deleted tons of emails.
She’s dishonest, but it’s small potatoes. Ever so small, compared to this vast conspiracy to elect Trump.
I’m not sure why the “left wing” media, CNN, MSNBC, aren’t parading around talking heads to constantly discuss the possibility of a Trump impeachment. They are covering the Manafort trial, unlike FOX, which has been more or less burying it.
I believe it’s because they are slightly more responsible than FOX, but are also viewed by a slightly more intelligent audience that attempts to understand the basic processes of our government, and to understand their own opinions of matters.
If Hillary’s former campaign manager was being tried on conspiracy charges against the United States, FOX would have a giant Impeachment Ticker, and be interviewing lunatic buffoons like Alex Jones, Newt Gingrich, and Rudy Giuliani, who would have idiotic and simplified points of view like “Let’s just impeach her and get it over with.”
Obviously, the reason a Trump supporter’s go-to response about anything related to Trump, especially the Mueller investigation, is HILLARY, is that they have no dignified defense against what happened, and, they’re dumb as shit so they behave like children on a schoolyard, trying to shut you down and change the subject, the way Trump does.
Here is my interview with Shawn O’Connor, a Trump supporter from Youngstown, Ohio:
Me: What do you think of Robert Mueller’s Special Council Investigation?
Shawn: I don’t think there’s anything there. Witch Hunt.
Me: Ok, what do you know about it?
Shawn: Nothing.
Me: How could you have an opinion of something you don’t know anything about?
Shawn: They’re trying to take our guns away… (indecipherable, trails off.)
Me: So, a large number of people directly involved with Trump’s campaign have been indicted for conspiring with Russian backed interests. This includes Trump’s former National Security Advisor, Michael Flynn, who lied to the FBI about taking Russian money. He has since been indicted and is cooperating with the government. There have also been many other indictments. That’s why his former campaign advisor is on trial right now. This is likely why Trump fired James Comey, the head of the FBI. See Trump was asking him to drop the entire investigation, which, if you were innocent in all of this, why would you even do that? This likely constitutes obstruction of justice.
Shawn: Hillary sold our Uranium to Russia.
Me: Not entirely true. When Clinton was Secretary of State she voted on an acquisition of the oil company Uranium One, which was based in South Africa. Nine federal agencies also signed off on this deal, and Hillary only approved of it insofar as she was on a National Security panel with nine other people who all had an equal vote, many of whom were Republicans. Uranium One was later bought by a Russian oligarch’s oil company. Are you super concerned about Russia? Then why is this Mueller thing not on your radar?
Shawn: I like turtles.
Me: There’s a pretty significant paper trail here. It seems Trump’s campaign was broke leading up to the election, so he laundered money from Russian interests who were attempting to buy influence in American politics. There is the curious timing of the sale of Trump apartments, and Trump’s sale of a Florida mansion for $30 million over its appraised value to Russian oligarch Dmitry Rybolovlev.
Shawn: Whatever dude, you couldn’t even do good at American Ninja Warriors.
Me: There are also well documented, irrefutable reports which came out recently that Russia was funneling money to Trump and other Republican candidates, laundering it through the National Rifle Association.
Shawn: The Wakey Bakey Hash from Jack in the Box is only three dollars all day for a limited time.
Me: There are so many pieces of information. Not sure how to communicate. Melting down… You know Jeff Sessions, Trump’s Attorney General, had to recuse himself from the Mueller Investigation because he admitted during his confirmation hearings that he lied about meeting with Russians to discuss Trump’s campaign. Do you think that’s weird?
Shawn: I’ll tell you what’s weird, rap music. I call it ‘rap crap.’
Me: I think I’m done here. Have a miserable life.
Shawn: Fuck you, homo.
Me: I’ll see you at the Christmas party.