BTW, off topic, but Carly Simon’s father told he she wasn’t the pretty daughter. Can you believe it?
I’d say only if Mueller really needs Manafort. Manafort is an unbelievably slimy traitor. He’s done some shockingly horrible things, think helping Vixtor Yanokovich jail his political opponent, and generally helping prop up horrible dictators, plus all the money laundering, etc. Also helping to organize a protest against NATO, one that resulted in protesters hurling rocks at US troops. https://www.rawstory.com/2016/08/trump-campaign-chair-manafort-organized-protesters-who-threw-rocks-at-us-troops-report/ I bet Mueller wants to take Manafort down hard, and will only try to flip him if he has to.
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“The reality of how long this legal process will likely take, the cost, and the circus-like atmosphere of an anticipated trial are too much. I will better serve my family moving forward by exiting this process,” Gates’ letter continued, according to ABC News. Gates is the father of young children.
When a Defendant enters a guilty plea, one of the questions from the Judge he must answer is: “Are you pleading guilty because you are, in fact, guilty?”
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The other daughter was beautiful, too. A successful opera singer, BTW.
You’re forgetting his expectation of a Presidential pardon. I expect Manafort will ride this out on that expectation alone.
A Presidential pardon can only cover Federal charges. There are state prosecutors just waiting for a crack at this guy.
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My working theory after reading the last 3 indictments is that Mueller has a multi-pronged strategy to go after Trump. Going through Manafort is one of those tracks.
Now that Mueller has established that the Russian attack on our elections was a conspiracy to violate our election laws, and that the use of nominally private actors is essentially an extension of the Russian gov’t’s efforts, Mueller can ID Manafort, Gates, Page and Papadopoulos as Russian actors and agents, enabling and collaborating with a Russian agenda, in their capacity as campaign members. That potentially makes the campaign a co-conspirator in the Russian effort. If Mueller indicts the Trump campaign org, that’s a way to get to Trump without triggering a constitutional crisis. He has other angles too, but I think this one pushes Trump towards resignation.
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This is slightly OT and won’t resonate with younger commenters here. But, I love the fact that Mueller, at 72 years of age, is at the pinnacle of his career doing work of serious consequence for the entire country. My work isn’t remotely close to Mueller’s in its importance. But, as I reach the age where retirement is an option, thinking of what he’s doing now makes me want to stay and kick ass in my own professional world for a few more years.
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I’ve said for awhile that we are well past the point of pardons. They’d only help Manafort, not Trump. Trump doesn’t do things to help others, only to help himself. If he were to pardon Manafort, that pardon would trigger an obstruction of justice charge. In addition, the pardon itself could be challenged on constitutional grounds. Self-interested pardons are a violation of the pardon clause. Moreover, the specter of Trump pardoning a Russian asset would destroy what’s left of his legitimacy.
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IMO, Manafort, and most of the people in the Trump campaign would have gotten away, yes. HRC wouldn’t have wanted the optics of going after her opponent, and that would have been the consistent theme from Donald and co.
But HRC would have responded MUCH more strongly to Russia and Putin. Of that I have very little doubt.
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Maybe. But Manafort is a particularly nasty piece of work, and Mueller has gone after him hard. Recall the dawn raid on Manafort’s apartment, for example, and Mueller has given Manafort a pretty hard ride on bail hearings. I suspect there are many paths to get to Trump that don’t require Manafort’s participation. My sense, pure speculation to be sure, is that Mueller would very much like to take a path that doesn’t require Manafort’s cooperation so he can hit Manafort with the full fury of justice.
That’s my feeling, too. The window has pretty much closed for Manafort to cut a deal, Mueller is just going to prosecute and use that prosecution as the basis of his future indictments/trials. Successfully prosecuting Manafort goes a long way towards laying out the foundation for Russian influence in the campaign.
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New Criminal Information Statement out…looks like the official plea agreement and statement of the offense will becoming today.
The doc restates a number of facts outlined in prior indictments. Rick Gates appears to be pleading guilty to 1 count of Conspiracy Against the United States and 1 count for False Statements.
Need to read it more thoroughly, but that’s the quick take.
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Understood, but i hesitate to give credit to either Manafort or T rump in having that level of rational cognition. DJT never considers the consequences of any of his words or actions, and based on his past actions, i would almost expect him to pardon the whole cadre of busted Russian/T rumpian assets simply because he can. He alone is President, and he alone has that power. I wouldn’t put it past him to issue those pardons just to rub it in the faces of everyone who he dislikes, which is the entire fucking world. See? Look what i can do! NYAH!
I’m honestly not doubting your insights. You’re probably right, especially regarding the constitutional concerns of his legal abilities, but we are in uncharted territory. I do expect him to test the limits of every last of his options before he goes down.
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Pete Williams on MSNBC is saying that Gates is pleading guilty to two crimes, each with a maximum sentence of 5 years. Since Gates was originally charged with crimes carrying much longer sentences, it seems as though he must have offered Mueller’s team something of substance to reach this point.
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I wonder if there ever was a window. Manafort seems like someone you’d want to flip others to get to, rather than someone to use to get to others, unless you have to. Can’t imagine a group of all star prosecutors wanting to let that guy off easy.
I’m becoming less inclined to believe that Trump didn’t think he was going to win. A big reason? Trump claimed it to be the case.
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Almost assuredly there was. Manafort has the skinny on Trump and most likely Pence. And nearly everyone else, including a whole bunch of Russians. As crappy as he is, that would be extremely valuable information in upcoming prosecutions and impeachments.
Going to court for prosecution will get Mueller there, it will just take longer and cost more. (And bleed Manafort of millions too). I suspect these won’t be the last indictments issued against Manafort either.
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Not if Gates can give you the same information. Mueller may not need Manafort. Maybe he does, but if he doesn’t I bet he’d be happy to throw the book at him. And this group of traitors and reprobates are far from the sharpest knives in the drawer. They sure did a crappy job of covering their tracks. If Mueller has enough without Manafort, easy to see Mueller refusing a deal and nailing him to the wall.
I’m with you.
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