Manafort plea deal

blacbird

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Breaking news says this is in the works, so no links or details yet. But given the multitude of charges Manafort has already been convicted of, and the fact that he has to face more charges, and hasn't yet been sentenced, Mueller wouldn't cut a deal with him unless there is some really really really juicy stuff he will be required to testify about. Stay tuned on this one.

caw
 

MaeZe

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... Mueller wouldn't cut a deal with him unless there is some really really really juicy stuff he will be required to testify about. Stay tuned on this one.

caw
Keep in mind, people make plea deals all the time to avoid a trial, sometimes to plea down to a lesser charge and avoiding a trial saving the state money, sometimes to save victims having to testify, sometimes murderers trade revealing where the bodies are buried for removing the death penalty and so on.

It's not always about trading testimony or information on a higher value criminal.
 

ElaineA

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I don't think this is real. I mean, it's real in that it's been put into the public sphere, but it didn't come from Mueller.

Manafort has no leverage. If, as he claims, he did nothing wrong, that there was absolutely NO questionable contact between him or the campaign and the Russians, why the HELL wouldn't he walk into Mueller's office and lay it all out? Take the deal, spill everything, exonerate everyone.

The fact that he hasn't done that means he can't, because it isn't true, and Mueller has no reason to deal with him without Manafort being a cooperating witness. Mueller already knows all he needs to know from the standpoint of documents and money trails. Manafort needs a pardon, and my guess is he's upping the pressure on Trump.

I honestly believe he can't cooperate in any way with Mueller and live. Russia may have poisoned another prominent thorn in their side yesterday, and the timing is incredibly interesting, as possible warnings go. (Yes, I admit 100% that last part--the "warning"--is a conspiracy theory from my pitiful brain, but I like it anyway.) If Manafort flips, he's going to have to go into lifetime witness protection, along with his entire family.
 

blacbird

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Keep in mind, people make plea deals all the time to avoid a trial, sometimes to plea down to a lesser charge and avoiding a trial saving the state money,

Oh, sure that happens, a lot. But in this particular case, Mueller isn't about to do something that banal. He has already squeezed several others in this cabal to get information and possible future testimony. As for Manafort having no leverage, he may have plenty, in the form of information he will be required to reveal under oath, in order to get some degree of leniency. He apparently operated on the basis that he could beat the first round of charges. That didn't turn out so well for him, and he's now looking at significant prison time for those convictions.

caw
 

Kjbartolotta

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Now, I'm trying to be careful in my expectations here, but it sounds like Manafort's officially flipped.

Fun! And it's a Friday, so expect plenty of thoughts from Trump on the subject tonight and tomorrow morning. But I really wonder what Putin's thinking...
 

Larry M

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Also, according the the Washington Post and other sources, part of the deal includes asset forfeiture of nearly $50 million, including bank accounts and at least one insurance policy. I guess we can consider the Mueller investigation costs paid in full, through 2019 or so.
 

Alessandra Kelley

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Also, according the the Washington Post and other sources, part of the deal includes asset forfeiture of nearly $50 million, including bank accounts and at least one insurance policy. I guess we can consider the Mueller investigation costs paid in full, through 2019 or so.

So much for that particular gripe.

Not that any of the gripers ever blinked at spending more than $100,000,000 on all the vindictive, wasted of investigations of Hillary Clinton trying fruitlessly to scratch up dirt.
 

gem1122

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But her emails !

-cb

;)



I'm trying not to get my hopes up about this. He's hoping for a pardon, but he can't rely on Trump, can he? So, he must have given Mueller's team substantial information.
 

Ari Meermans

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The plea offer is a 17-page Full Cooperation Agreement, which means he has to "cooperate fully, truthfully, completely, and forthrightly with the Government and other law enforcement authorities identified by the Government in any and all matters as to which the Government deems the cooperation relevant."

His Trump Tower apartment is also part of the forfeiture, which means the U.S. government now owns a piece of the property. heh.

(Still reading.)
 

ElaineA

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I imagine Mike Pence is shaking in his bunny slippers every bit as much as Trump. He was Manafort's VP pick, he's carried the water on defending Flynn. He's in this thing neck-deep.

My husband is positing the possibility that Trump (with GOP complicity) will try to lay ALL of this on Pence and Trump will skate.

Personally, I am desperately hoping the Dem wave is a whopper in November. Imagine. The house goes Dem, impeachment proceedings start, Trump & Pence both go and ...

wait for it ...

Nancy Pelosi becomes president. :roll::roll::roll:

Sweet, sweet revenge.
 

cbenoi1

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I imagine Mike Pence is shaking in his bunny slippers every bit as much as Trump.

Pence has been keeping some distance from the mess and Trump thinks he's above the law.

Jared is the one not too comfy nowadays.

-cb
 

blacbird

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I imagine Mike Pence is shaking in his bunny slippers every bit as much as Trump. He was Manafort's VP pick, he's carried the water on defending Flynn. He's in this thing neck-deep.

Sadly, I disagree with the contention that he's "in it". Pence is a deluded dope and unthreatening to Trump, and that's why he accepted the VP slot after several others had declined it. He has the charisma of a cold boiled turnip, and meguesses that's what is preventing some GOPers from entertaining impeachment thoughts. Trump goes, they get Pence, going forward into 2020 elections.

caw
 

frimble3

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His Trump Tower apartment is also part of the forfeiture, which means the U.S. government now owns a piece of the property. heh.

(Still reading.)
Well that should help defray the costs of all those Secret Service agents.
 

cornflake

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;)



I'm trying not to get my hopes up about this. He's hoping for a pardon, but he can't rely on Trump, can he? So, he must have given Mueller's team substantial information.

I believe there are charges they're reserving in order to be able to bring them through the state, just in case Trump pardoned him. Trump can't do anything about a state conviction.