Mueller's Investigation Is a Rebuke to Kleptocracy

Nobody knows how Monday’s indictment of Paul Manafort and Rick Gates, and the disclosure of a plea deal by George Papadopoulos, fit into Robert Mueller’s broader investigation of Russian collusion with the Trump campaign. But Mueller’s filings stand on their own as an important rebuke to global kleptocracy. That’s because the American face of the problem is Paul Manafort.

As an international political consultant, Manafort built a career trying to soften the reputation of corrupt rulers. He spent decades shuttling to the palaces of exploitative dictators (Ferdinand Marcos, Sani Abacha, Mobuto Sese Seko) and then presenting them to the press and lawmakers as friends of western democracy, perfectly acceptable citizens of the global order. And, today’s indictment alleges, Manafort also attempted