I’ve been a part of quite a few intelligence operations — running some and countering others — and after reading the plea agreement I can tell you it is no surprise to me that Manafort was able to conceal his wrongdoing as long as he did. The man knows how to run an op. The Cypriot-based transactions were right out of the espionage handbook. And his handling of the so-called Hapsburg Group looked just like an “active measures” campaign.