What's happening? This sounds like just a small-timey case of misappropriation of campaign funds.

This is not a small-time raid. They went in with the full force of the field office, and the firm in question is chaired by someone in business contact with Paul Manafort. Not to mention this group holds the major Tea Party campaign fund, as well as several dozen senators and house members.

So, tied to Trump, and a lot of GOP. RICO, bitches.

A little more info on this raid from WaPo.
They're suspected of being a 'scam-pac', basically taking donor money and putting it in their own pockets. Their ties to real political players are tenuous at best.
Sure, it would be nice to think this is some kind of nascent operation related to Russiagate, etc, but this just seems highly unlikely under the circumstances.
I strongly suggest not getting too excited about this.

I'd be very hesitant to accept the story without criticism from a GOP strategist.

No, those ties are not tenuous. Manafort is definitely connected to the head, and yes... they are the principle stewards of several large GOP funds.

These guys are crooks, but not the crooks you're looking for.
If the idea is to steal donors' money, it certainly would behoove them to play up their importance and influence as much as possible.
But what the heck, I'll concede it's worth keeping an eye on this, along with the thousand other puddles of intrigue.

That's what I'm afraid of. Puddles of intrigue. I want them to be lakes and overflowing rivers, because until then, they will just evaporate into thin air.

And we all drown in shit.

And this shows a bit more of why I can't get excited about this story without evidence. Wanting this to be the almighty, stop the presses, super duper drama that finally gives DT what he deserves... doesn't make it so. And hyping it like it is only makes future conversations more difficult if this turns out to not live up to expectations.
Political melodrama burnout, man...

I'm guessing the next best thing, if they can't find smoking guns, is to constantly harp on Russian collusion. Everyday, and hope agent orange has a public meltdown. It seems he can't get this out of his head. I'd keep it there for the duration, and wait for him to become unhinged and lose his shit, calling for psychiatric exams.

Would that count as second best?

Folks need to calm down and temper their expectations.
But sure, under the current circumstances, it's dangerously easy to get carried away.

I'd like to believe this will go somewhere towards removing Trump, but until there is actual, undeniable evidence of wrongdoing in the public domain, this just feels like more of the bluster and theatre that's been going on for 6-9 months. And if he is removed, that doesn't fill three branches of government with Dems. I'd like to be wrong, though

I'll keep repeating : Deep Throat.

Even as Trump attempts to undermine the FBI for his own purposes, it's worth remembering that Deep Throat was the #2 guy at the FBI, mad about Nixon undermining the FBI for his own purposes.
Big diff is that with all the leaks in the Trump white house, it's like there are dozens of Deep Throats. Problem is that in the current polarized political environment, it probably makes no difference.

So call them Shallow Throats. I don't fucking care what we call 'em. Somebody needs to step up. Even in this polarized political climate, dumpsters admin is not strong enough to withstand that kind of assault. Regardless of a GOP controlled legislative branch.

Maybe. As I've said about a million times since the election, we're in uncharted territory.

If the FBI were aiming to dismantle the GOP as a criminal organization, i would want them to keep tight, take their time collecting proof, and make sure every duck was in a row along the process. Trump imprisoned is a partial victory, and with that alone there'd be such backlash the GOP would continue their path, bolstered by their propaganda media subset.

Man, that's a long raid, if they're still raiding it as I read this.