Discussion: Judge Upholds Mueller's Authority To Prosecute Manafort For Ukraine Dealings

atldrew · May 15, 2018, 9:30pm

@sniffit sez you need to estoppel asking these questions.

ralph_vonholst · May 15, 2018, 9:32pm

Read the entire thread.

darrtown · May 15, 2018, 9:33pm

At some point, hopefully in the not too distant future, some of the higher ups in the trump orbit will end up in prison… but I must say I am beginning to lose hope.

I will lose all my moorings if Mueller issues minor slaps on their collective wrists and lets this…this (what should i call it?) Horror show continue.

katscherger · May 15, 2018, 9:33pm

But they will probably rule the same way.

irasdad · May 15, 2018, 9:35pm

Don’t believe everything you think.

/wink

sniffit · May 15, 2018, 9:35pm

I suspect that’s the case. The applicable reasoning would be similar. But who knows. I trust a Reagan appointee about as far as I can piss up a wall with no hands.

lestatdelc · May 15, 2018, 9:36pm

So much for the desperate move Paulie…

Time to flip.

ralph_vonholst · May 15, 2018, 9:38pm

As Trump rips off his human skin to reveal a Lovecraftian gigantic, multieyed polyp.

jtx · May 15, 2018, 9:39pm

It is beginning to look like life in prison Paully, better start thinking instead of denying.

atldrew · May 15, 2018, 9:40pm

this one always cheers me up:

https://twitter.com/20committee/status/969395782360162304

He’s also the guy who said dotard will die in prison.

lestatdelc · May 15, 2018, 9:40pm

Different case and judge.

pshah · May 15, 2018, 9:41pm

The Indictables starring Donald Trump and Paul Manafort with a cameo from Vladimir Putin.

In this lauded film, superthugs Donald Trump and Paul Manafort and a whole host of barely talented, minor actors are forced to assume the position as superlawyer Bob Mueller brings his superpower -integrity - to overwhelm their nefarious schemes.

smiley · May 15, 2018, 9:42pm

It’s still being written at this moment! :>

darrtown · May 15, 2018, 9:46pm

I’m visiting my family’s farm in my namesake village in Ohio. I’ll have limited input this week due to necessary family things (arrival of brother’s 1st grandchild which occurred last night for one). I’ll be back defending the nation’s political walls from the nativists and grifters by Saturday.

jep07 · May 15, 2018, 9:49pm

When the Dem base quite righteously cries for impeachment, instead of telling them “NO”, Pelosi and the old-timers should promise to keep impeachment ever-hovering like a “trump” card, IF TRUMP TRIES TO FIRE MUELLER!

When a candidate who understands the pragmatism of being stealthy about impeachment is asked if they support impeachment, they can say “If Trump tries to fire Mueller, we’ll start impeachment procedures the next morning. For now, we need to let the investigation sort out the evidence we will need to make it happen.”

Trump thinks the threat of impeachment will get his basest base all fired up, THE FACT IS IF WE WORK TOGETHER TO WIN THE HOUSE AND SENATE, WE CAN MAKE THAT DECISION WHENEVER WE CHOOSE.

Failing that, we have none of these options.

There has never been an election where simple, smart pragmatism was more important.

someguy · May 15, 2018, 9:51pm

Judge Berman is on the District Court for the District of DC, while Ellis is on the District Court for the Eastern District of VA. Berman’s decision isn’t binding on Ellis, and vice versa. Even if they sat on the same court, their decisions wouldn’t technically be binding on each other. So Ellis can do what he wants. But Berman’s decision will certainly have persuasive authority, and if Ellis is going to do something different then he’d probably explain why he was coming to a different conclusion than Berman. If either party were to end up appealing (Manafort from Berman or Ellis, or Mueller from Ellis if Ellis rules for Manafort), then the appeals would go to different appeals courts as well. Berman’s would go to the Court of Appeals for the District of DC, while Ellis’s would go to the Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit. Again, neither appellate court’s decision would be binding on the other appeals court, and neither would be binding on a district court in the other circuit. But again, it’d have persuasive value. Only the USSCT could issue a decision that would bind everybody.

reggid · May 15, 2018, 10:00pm

Haha! Fuck you, Donnie Little Hands! Tick tock, Motherfucker.

pike_bishop · May 15, 2018, 10:16pm

“…snivelage.” -

captain_america · May 15, 2018, 10:18pm

I think this has gone way past the point where Manafort can save himself by ‘flipping’. He’s going down, and hard. But, the good news is, he will serve as a salubrious demonstration why it’s a bad – a very bad – idea to try and f*** with Muller.

Also, at this point, a Presidential pardon won’t do him or Trump any good. Too much collateral stuff ongoing.

lestat · May 15, 2018, 10:24pm

And here is the key point: “Additionally, Jackson said that the Justice Department regulations created for special counsel investigations are not enforceable for defendants in court.”