“Every great cause begins as a movement, becomes a business, and eventually degenerates into a racket.” – Eric Hoffer

Despite a growing string of victories in the Republican primaries ,the DC-Wall Street cabal that has dominated the GOP since 1988 has no intention of letting the billionaire real estate mogul be nominated. None other than Karl Rove has insisted the stop-Trump effort is not too late and can succeed.

A new superPAC has dumped $10 million dollars into blistering negative TV ads against Trump in the last three days. The Koch brothers and their associates deny funding the effort but they denials are questionable at best. The New York Times reported Sunday that the Rubio and Kasich campaigns are now openly planning on a ‘brokered convention” to stop Trump in the back rooms in Cleveland. The New York Daily News reported that Barbara Bush has vowed revenge against Trump for ending the “low energy” campaign of her son Jeb, the anointed one and that the Bush clan is all-in in the effort to stop Trump. The News reported that Jeb may transfer the $25 to $30 million in SuperPAC funds he has left to an anti-Trump effort

The power-brokers short term game is clear; stall Trump just short of the magic number of delegates needed to be nominated on the first ballot with the knowledge that many delegates bound on the first ballot by Trump primary and caucus victories would be unbound on a second ballot. Much in the way the RNC stacked the galleries with anti-Trump partisans in the last two debates, anti-Trump quislings are be planted in various delegations that will be free to betray Trump on subsequent ballots.

If Cruz prevails in Texas and Kasich can hold Ohio the insiders game of “keep away “could get some legs. The cabal of billionaires who are bankrolling Marco Rubio have served notice on the young Senator that he must win his home state of Florida on March 15 or get the hook. Mitt Romney, who passed up the 2016 race because he deemed Jeb Bush unstoppable (!) is suited up to enter late primaries in California, New Jersey and elsewhere in the hopes that the party would turn to him on a second ballot. This explains why Romney has suddenly emerged as a twitter critic of Trump’s chiding him for not releasing his tax returns in the middle of an IRS audit and not renouncing the support of former KKK Grand Wizard David Duke fast enough.

The Republican nomination process was already rigged: the campaigns of the four early states (Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, Nevada) have been traditionally controlled by high paid consultants and party leaders who convince candidates to spend hundreds of millions on media, staff and early state “necessities.” The big money needed has to come from somewhere–namely from special interests who demand loyalty on key issues: government handouts/bailouts, open borders, and especially big government. The demands of early big money usually clear the field of anyone unacceptable to the Republican Racketeers: when Newt or Santorum didn’t play along in 2012, they were swamped under by big money.

In 2016, Trump doesn’t need the racketeers money because he has the Republican grassroots, but the racketeers have one last play: fix the Rules of the Conventions. For example, do you know how many delegates Trump must get to be nominated for president today? Zero. Cruz, Rubio, and all the rest? Also zero. Why? Because the Rule that allows them to be nominated (Rule 40) requires “permanently seated delegates” for nomination. But that won’t happen until the Credentials Committee meets at the convention!

Then there is rule 40-B.Please note that Rule 40 as it is currently written expires on the day before the convention when the Rules Committee meets to make up the new Rules of the Convention and for the Republican Party for the next 4 years. Rule 40-B currently requires a nominee to have “the “majority of the permanently seated delegates from at least 8 states.” Romney lawyer Ben Ginsberg was able to change Rule 40 from “plurality of the delegates from at least 5 states” to the current rule. The potential for skullduggery is clear. Even if Trump runs the tables in the primaries winning a plurality in virtually every state the rule can be tailored by a controlled Rules Committee to prevent a Trump nomination.

Rule 40-B used to require a majority in six states but when Congressman Ron Paul met that goal it was quickly changed to eight states. Under control of the insiders the number of states required can be amended to any number to block Trump.

Also, the goal of the extended nomination process will be to make it so either no one gets to eight states (or what ever number the establishment changes it to) Then, under the guise of letting “the voters be heard”, the Rules committee will make a more lax Rule 40. After all, Cruz and Rubio and Romney “deserve to be nominated,” they will argue. Romney will enter the late primaries because he is concerned that Rule 40 B will be changed to allow only those who won some delegates from voters in the states to be considered and because he might stand a better chance of chiseling delegates from Trump in late “’winner take all” primaries than the hapless Rubio.

Surely the party pros know that a nomination wrenched from the hands of Donald Trump would be worthless but they don’t care. The ruling elite that has dominated the party would rather have globalist Hillary Clinton than the uncontrollable nationalist Donald Trump. The idea of a president not beholden to the ruling elite is more than they can stand.

There are many great aphorisms in politics but this one may be the key to who ends up President: he who knows the rules, rules. Right now, it’s Reince and the Racketeers who know them best. Beware Republicans: the big steal is coming.

Roger Stone is a New York Times Bestselling Author and longtime political strategist and Ed Martin is the President of Phyllis Schlafly’s Eagle Forum and immediate past Chairman of the Missouri Republican Party

Listen to audio of Roger Stone’s interview this morning on Breitbart News Daily discussing this article: