I don’t see him issuing pardons for the Russian indictments. There is a near close to zero chance that any of them will ever face prosecution, or even set foot outside of Russia again.
I also see it unlikely he issues pardons for Manafort on this batch of indictments. I get that he wants to push limits and use his powers, but every pardon he issues for the Russian investigations will come at a high…and increasing…cost. That is part of why I believe Mueller isn’t issuing indictments for specific charges about campaign related activities. It’s actually a pretty smart strategy…lay out the foundation, without actually impinging on the campaign…yet.
I hope you’re right. On the Russian indictments, i’m almost sure you’re right. T rump claims those indictments vindicate him of any “collusion.” On the charges against Gates and Manafort, yes, you are correct that these specific charges have nothing to do with the campaign or Russia, so why bother? He has no skin in this specific game. What we have to hope for, though, is that Gates does get Manafort to flip, thus providing precise evidence against T rump beyond the expected “obstruction” charges. There is no way the Dotard is getting past those crimes. These other extemporaneous charges against his advisers, though, once those charges turn toward Russia and T rump, look out! I’m sure that T rump believes that if he issues pardons of those individuals for their crimes of conspiracy against the US during the election, those pardons will prevent his own crimes from seeing the light of day. He is that stupid.
As far as pardons go, there is a timing game going here that Trump is losing every single time so far.
Issuing a pardon after someone turns state’s evidence does him nothing, except make him look even guiltier. The evidence they turn still stands, and we still be used against him. That’s going to be particularly bad with regards to Flynn down the road.
As part of that dance, by indicting Manafort on charges not related directly to Trump campaign collusion, Mueller is minimizing the impact of a pardon…Manafort is still on the hook for all other crimes committed as campaign Chair/manager and through the transition (where he still maintained a remarkably close relationship with the senior staff…near daily meetings at Trump Towers, for example). And, again, Gates is turning over all the evidence of the money laundering framework that was used during the campaign, as well as how it was used to buy influence. So a pardon of Manafort only protects Manafort from jail time on the money laundering charges…nothing else…and more importantly, does nothing to protect Donald.
Which of course drops Donald’s interest in issuing one to zero. If its not going to help him, he isn’t going to do it.
