On Friday CNN gleefully reported that Robert Mueller, he with Uranium One mud all over him, was going to indict TWO people on Monday. Yayyyy! We.Got.Trump! was the narrative the entire rest of the weekend. *Side note, who broke the law and leaked the news of the indictments to CNN? Anyhooo… It seems that Paul Manafort was the bad dude the left and media made him out to be.

He drove from his home in Alexandria, Virginia this morning and walked into the FBI headquarters at 8:15 am to turn himself over to the authorities.

Here are the 12 counts of indictment:

• Conspiracy against the United States
• Conspiracy to launder money
• Unregistered agent of a foreign principal
• Fale and misleading FARA statements
• False statements
• Seven counts of failure to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts

You can read the indictments against Paul Manafort and Richard Gates here or here.

For everyone who is ready to jump on the WE GOT TRUMP HE COLLUDED ZOMG I KNEW IT!!! bandwagon…not so fast buckaroos.  

The charges center on Manafort’s and Gates’ involvement in an alleged money laundering operation utilizing offshore companies. Manafort and Gates, who were partners at the lobbying firm Davis Manafort, are also accused of hiding income from consulting work they did in Ukraine for a political party affiliated with Viktor Yanukovych, Ukraine’s former president.

The indictment, which is signed by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, says that between 2006 and 2014, Manafort and Gates failed to disclose lobbying and public relations work they conducted at the direction of Yanukovych and his political party, the Party of Regions. [Emphasis Added]

Folks, when did Manafort join the Trump campaign? March of 2016. 

When did Trump announce his campaign? June 16, 2015.

In other words, all the charges leveled at Manafort involve work he did PRIOR to any work with Donald Trump’s presidential campaign in any capacity. So much for the “gotcha” collusion! narrative.

FWIW the Manafort indictment doesn't mention the Trump campaign a single time, all about his business dealings

— Katie Pavlich (@KatiePavlich) October 30, 2017

Are these indictments bad news for Manafort? Absolutely. Bad news for Trump? Sort of.

Bad news for Trump: former campaign manager was indicted for allegedly laundering money gained through illegal pro-Russian lobbying. (1/)

— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) October 30, 2017

Good news for Trump: nothing here about collusion and the campaign. At all. This was always the most plausible scenario. (2/)

— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) October 30, 2017

So Trump gets dinged for obviously crappy staffing judgment. NOT "stealing the election" using Manafort as go-between. (END)

— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) October 30, 2017

Crappy staffing judgment for sure! But Russian collusion during campaign? Not a peep of it in the filing documents anywhere. Not. A. Peep.

.@KatiePavlich: "There is not a single sentence, not a single word in the indictment that refers to the campaign." https://t.co/L5xfeOfBCI pic.twitter.com/0TEwl73D11

— Fox News (@FoxNews) October 30, 2017

Let’s talk the REAL collusion, shall we? The above reference to Mueller and Uranium One was made for a reason. First of all, he was FBI Director at the time that sale was spearheaded by Hillary Clinton. Secondly, he was very aware, whether he admits it or not, of the massive FBI investigation into the Russians regarding Uranium One. Then there is this regarding Manafort:

Podesta Group, implicated in Manafort indictment, also took $200k at least to lobby on behalf of Uranium One. pic.twitter.com/1Od8chojPo

— Sean Davis (@seanmdav) October 30, 2017

Oh…OHHHHHH.

#BREAKING: BREAKING NEWS: Tony Podesta stepping down from lobbying giant amid Mueller probe https://t.co/DR1rKHtnMb

— Brit Hume (@brithume) October 30, 2017

Podesta is a lobbying giant in Washington. His stepping aside — as scooped by none other than @apalmerdc — is huge.

— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) October 30, 2017

Yes it is YUUUUGE. This is worth mentioning:

Flashback: Tony Podesta routinely failed to disclose foreign gov lobbying of brother John, then an Obama WH official https://t.co/DLG3NjzYUH

— Lachlan Markay (@lachlan) October 30, 2017

Why is the Manafort/Podesta Group link significant? Check out the specifics of indictment items 20-26, and 38, regarding Company A and Company B:

• Lobby in US on behalf of Ukraine
• In 2012 President briefed by Paul regarding Ukraine’s progress and what is in store for 2013

Golly gee, folks! WHO was President then? THIS guy:

WHO was Secretary of State then? This person:

Back in May CNN did a small bit of journalism. They reported this:

One of Washington’s most powerful lobbying firms did not disclose the wide extent of its lucrative political work for a Ukrainian group tied to both onetime Trump adviser Paul Manafort and to pro-Russian politicians, new records show.

The firm, the Podesta Group, said nothing in a 2012 lobbying report to Congress about at least 32 meetings, emails and other communications it had with the State Department, at a time when Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was scrutinizing Ukraine’s upcoming election, records show. …

So yes, we are seeing collusion that involves Tony and John Podesta, Hillary Clinton, and Barack Obama.

The indictment of Manafort and Gates is damning on their financial dealings, but it makes no mention of Trump, collusion or the campaign

— Jonathan Karl (@jonkarl) October 30, 2017

But wait! Wasn’t that what this entire Mueller probe was about? Yes, but sure seems like the evidence went an entirely different direction, now didn’t it?

Dennis Miller nails it:

As of this morning, Manafort becomes a Sword of Damocles for Hillary not Trump. Be careful what you wish for Mrs. Doubtliar!

Paul Manafort is probably wishing for a little help right about now:

I’ve a feeling that a few others with last name of Podesta, Obama, and Clinton are likely wondering the same thing.