Foreign agents deserve more scrutiny — and often scorn

As a first step in special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, the indictment of Paul Manafort did not come as much of a surprise. For once, the long-expected has actually come to pass.

Manafort’s unsavory dealings with Russian interests were being discussed long before last November’s election — even before last year’s Republican convention. Unsurprisingly, they led to his ouster from the Trump campaign after only a short tenure as its chairman. And a number of other potentially incriminating facts about Manafort have been reported about him in the time since.

Yet the information contained within Monday’s Manafort indictment still might come as a shock to anyone unfamiliar with the ways of Washington. And the most surprising story is one about the bipartisan chumminess among those taking money to help Russian President Vladimir Putin's cause — directly or indirectly — in Washington.

Long before Manafort or John Podesta could have known they would be heading rival presidential campaigns in 2016, Manafort was working with the Podesta Group (which John had helped found with his brother Tony) to assist the corrupt puppet government that Putin was then supporting in Ukraine.

In working for the Orwellian-sounding European Centre for a Modern Ukraine, or ECMU, both were actually helping a regime that wanted to turn Ukraine away from the West, and back toward a subservient posture toward the Kremlin. Were they aware that they were working directly for pro-Russian Ukraine President Viktor Yanukovych? Manafort clearly knew, as he reported directly to him on their progress. And if the Podesta Group wasn’t aware at first, then they probably should have figured it out as they ardently tried to convince members of Congress that, hey, of course it's perfectly on the up-and-up that Yanukovych has imprisoned his political rivals.