Special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation, supposedly into collusion between President Trump’s election campaign and Russia, is casting light into dark corners of the Washington swamp where powerful political figures become highly paid agents of foreign governments.

The prominent Americans Mueller has indicted are all foreign agents. That is, they work as lobbyists or consultants for foreign governments, who paid them handsomely. This includes retired Gen. Michael Flynn, GOP operative Paul Manafort, and his consulting partner Rick Gates. None of these men were indicted or convicted for activities on the Trump campaign. The charge sheet against Manafort was generally for crimes allegedly committed in his lucrative work in the transnational, revolving-door lobbying industry centered on the federal capital.