A confederacy of Liars, not Dunces... Well, okay, both.
4
I hope that we learn about what Mannafort was supposed to say.
1
A conspiracy is a conscious commitment to a common scheme, plus one or more overt acts in furtherance thereof. It can be secret or public.
2
The actual content of the Kliminik-Manafort emails is like something out of a bad spy movie ... or maybe the Manchurian Candidate.
"I met with the guy who gave you your biggest black caviar jar several years ago,” said the GRU-trained Russian to the Republican presidential campaign chief. “I have several important messages from him to you.”
Well, that all sounds completely above board.
3
It's becoming increasingly apparent that Paul Manafort was conspiring with the Kremlin to help get Trump elected.
And Rick Gates knows everything as Manafort's right-hand man. He'll probably be the most important witness for the special counsel's office in proving a conspiracy with the Russian government.
5
People convicted of committing perjury are rarely strong witnesses.
Douglas Evans,
If Gates lies after agreeing to cooperate (like Manafort did) he'll lose all the benefits of his agreement.
Rick Gates has young children and apparently wants to come clean and avoid prison, unlike Manafort.
Prosecutors often use people who have previously refused to cooperate. Organized crime cases usually involve people who initially lie but eventually get religion and cooperate when they realize that if they don't they're going to the big house.
2
For all intents and purposes, Manafort has acted as if he were an agent for Russia. The myriad conversations and meetings he had with Trump, his son, son-in-law, often in conjunction with Manafort's many influential Russian contacts, show a pattern of cooperation, and most probably collusion, both before and after the 2016 election. You couldn't write a novel, or a screenplay, any better than this about the insidious and dark dealings at the highest echelons of our government.
7
This basically makes Manafort a Russian foreign agent when he was running the campaign...without registering, of course.
5
Paul, if I may use your first name, your best bet is to come squeaky clean about everything you know about Trump. Tell it all to Mueller, and hope for less jail time. Above all, help bring Trump down.
1
At what point is this treason?
7
When Vlad promised The Leader that, if he were elected, the two of them could remake the balance of power in the world between Russia and the U.S., and offered to help make that golden future a reality. And when The Leader replied, "So how would that work?"
2
Another art-of-the-squeal, Trump's days are numbered story. It's Mueller's investigation that may get the scrutiny it never received under Rosenstein.
When Mueller's incoming boss, appointed by the President takes office, Mueller's own team (Democrats) and tactics might not pass muster. DOJ official Bruce Ohr's testimony proved that top FBI/DOJ officials including Rod Rosenstein were aware that Steele's dossier was unverified and paid for by the DNC
Yet the dossier were relied on without disclosure of this material fact to obtain bugging warrants from the FISA court-
to bug candidate Trump's campaign via his adviser.
Bruce Ohr testified that he shared intel on the dossier's author Steele with prosecutors now on Mueller's team.
They ignored all of it and kept their focus only on indicting Trump associates on process crimes.
Barr to Mueller: We need to talk
1
@Tiberius Oh? Mueller's team is made up of Democrats? Yawn.
Have you noticed how many Trump campaign staff have gotten into trouble for lying about contacts with Russians?
3
How odd that everything in the Steele dossier has so far proved true. And the Russians still have those photos. They will come out too as soon as Putin decides to ditch Trump.
1
I can only conclude , as I concur with one of the other commenters , that there is a good chance that Manaforte and his family may have been threatened by the Russian oligarch mob . If they want someone whacked they will do it .
6
That Mueller has put so much emphasis on Manafort, a habitual liar, raises a flaw with the system. Mueller, as a prosecutor, only has access to one half of the witnesses, the American ones. Perhaps this should have been structured more as an intelligence investigation, where our intelligence services presumably would have better options for accessing the Russian side of the story. Given all the lies from the Manafort crowd, we may never know what really happened.
2
Once again we are reminded that Trump's statement to hire "only the best people" include liars, convicted felonies, provocateurs, and possibly a hostile foreign government, Russia. I truly hope for America's future that voters are paying attention and plan to show up to the polls come Nov. 2020. America's future is continuing on it!
8
Hoping Manafort gets everything he deserves. Seriously, how stupid is this guy, thinking after all the Mueller has proven, that his investigation so far has been brilliant! He’s going to make that list...one of America’s most stupid criminals!
3
Has anyone from the Trump campaign told the truth? Nope. Anyone surprised that Manafort lied? Nope! I think Manafort has been threatened by Kilimik and the other Russian oligarchs he had been working for. He has aged significantly, I am willing to bet his family has been threatened. Putin and his goons are not nice people!
Donald....Mueller is coming for you...tick....tock!
6
"Prosecutors claim that the associate, Konstantin V. Kilimnik, has ties to Russian intelligence, and have been investigating whether he was involved in Russia’s covert campaign to influence the election results."
How about these prosecutors supply evidence that Kilimnick was working for the Russian state? He's not Russian.
And then, Russian election interference is far from established; it's an unverified 27 month old claim now.
Seeing lots of neo-McCarthyism in this "reporting'.
@Yaj Let's get you caught up: The Russian government interfered in the 2016 U.S. presidential election with the goal of harming the campaign of Hillary Clinton, boosting the candidacy of Donald Trump, and increasing political discord in the United States. Russia's covert activities were first reported by the United States Intelligence Community in October 2016, and confirmed by the Director of National Intelligence office three months later.
2
this is what happens when a corrupt and dishonest person (giving him the benefit of the doubt) such as trump assembles and surrounds himself with a group of similarly amoral, underhanded, deceitful individuals. the country has become almost deaf to the plethora of falsehoods - but each must be exposed.
the shaky pyramid of prevarications has become so fragile that it can no longer support itself and pieces are breaking off - eventually it will collapse, and with it, hopefully, trump's time in the white house will end.
what is most important is that the special counsel's office appears to have corroborating evidence sufficient to convince a judge of the bad acts being perpetrated on the united states and its citizens.
as much as i would like to see the investigation completed, every last criminal involved needs to be pursued and justice served. as these events are showing, the indicted are attempting to try their cases on tv and in the news, but the courts are where the final determinations will be made. our democracy is at stake - let the prosecutors be as aggressive as is required to get justice.
5
The very nature of habitual and consistent lying is that the liar always believes in his own "truth." We have just such an individual now sleeping in the Lincoln bedroom, gradually creating a tangled web of deceit that cannot be dissolved simply by recognizing fact until it is then too late, for us all. Manafort and Stone are the twin bellwethers that have lead this herd to the cliff edge. Meuller's report will be the end of the line for this sad national deception, as transparent as it is to every one else. Are there any moral leaders left in our democracy? And I don't mean the silent Pence!
5
Within the next 23 months, Mueller's report will probably be issued (whether we, the People, get to see it is another question). The 2020 election will take place.
Presuming Trump is the GOP candidate, and is defeated in that election -- Manafort will likely serve most if not all of those 23 months in Federal prison.
Manafort tried to be a Mole by agreeing to cooperate with Mueller's team. He and his attorneys undoubtedly informed Trump's legal team of all lines of questioning Mueller's team pursued with him, so the Special Prosecutor's case might be reverse-engineered. All to protect the Capo di Tutti.
It nauseates me to say this, but how this may end is with Trump voted out, and issuing a mass of Pardons before January of 2021. Everyone will be so happy to see the Capo go that no one will care about one last act of defiance and thuggery -- except Manafort, who will feel he's earned his Get Out Of Jail Free card, because of course he did nothing wrong.
3
Mueller first destroys the credibility of Cohen, Manafort and Stone, then counts on their testimonies against the President
2
That is how criminal enterprises are brought down
6
"A federal judge ruled on Wednesday that Paul Manafort, President Trump’s former campaign chairman, had breached his plea agreement by lying multiple times to prosecutors after pledging to cooperate with the special counsel’s investigation into Russia’s interference in the 2016 election."
What Russian interference in the 2016 election?
Just stating something sans evidence is not evidence the thing occurred.
We've been reading these claims for more that 24 months now, so far no evidence has come out to support the interference claims.
We've seen tax evasion and obstructing investigations.
1
Then I guess whatever he told Mueller is meaningless.
1
If Manafort is a'hopin' and a'wishin' a Trump pardon is coming his way, he may be in for a rude surprise. If Manafort tries to suggest to Team Trump that Manafort should be pardoned lest he truly "comes clean" about just what he was doing on behalf of the Trump campaign, Manafort's record of mendacity will bite him. Team Trump can now claim with greater confidence that Manafort has no credibility.
2
Mr. Manafort's plea agreement was insincere. His aim was almost certainly to hide what transpired, and to protect Mr. Trump, Mr. Pence and their associates, in exchange for a pardon. Isn't it likely that there was an agreement between Manafort and the White House that Manafort would do this? That would be yet another instance of obstruction of justice. The whole thing looks more and more like a conspiracy between Trump et al. and the Kremlin. The long slow trickle of revelations and findings is fast becoming an immoveable mountain of evidence.
2
Lobbyists are always a problematic group.
If you go after the lobbyists and prominent election industry professionals, I think it's not a bad use of law enforcement just to keep them honest.
However, if the campaign is not applied fairly, then you risk the exercise of being tainted as partisan.
I don't have a problem with Manafort and other lobbyists answering for their business ethical problems. I'm asking why the Podesta brothers and other employees in the Podesta Group lobbyists associated with the Ukraine/Russia lobbying efforts got immunity since it seems that the Podestas were either principals or equal partners that were also doing the same lobbying with Manafort.
Mueller's team in their report should explain the rationale for granting Podesta immunity and why he believes their role was smaller than Manafort --- from what is known today, it is doubtful Podestas were not the senior partners in this deal.
2
There was more to all that "Lock her up!" from Trump during that horrific presidential campaign because he was really tossing us the real goods about just who needs to be locked up! I would just love to see all these villains tossed in jail for the rest of their lives with Trump tossed in as their red meat.
3
Consider that Manafort is lying because the Russians that he was dealing with have threatened him and his entire family....not with jail but with much worse. I believe that if he really tells it all, then they are all dead and he has been so informed or already knows it. And this way, he has the possibility that Trump will pardon him.
7
Agree! My husband and I were just talking about this. He has been threatened it worse, his family has. Putin is an evil man.
3
I learned as a young boy that when you tell a lie, you must remember what it is you told to whom. As I got older I figured out that it was less complicated to tell the truth and deal with the consequences than to have your misdeeds explode with double strength. Apparently Mr. Manafort did not keep track of his stories.
6
So the habitual liar, Manafort, lied even when cutting a deal. Huh who'd of thought he would do that.
The great part about this is Manafort is in jail because he lied about witness tampering. Otherwise he would still be free on bail.....irony is a beautiful thing.
7
Why would the Republican Senators shut their eyes and minds to all of this? Trace the funds from the NRA to their respective te-election campaigns. Where did the NRA get the money to pay off—oops, donate to Senators? From the Trump Inaugural funds, via Russia. Follow the $. There is a reason they are silent. They’ve been rewarded for expected, blind loyalty and silence.
12
I wish I could read the Ukrainian 'Peace Deal'. I would bet the deal would specify that Yanukovich was to lead the new eastern region of Ukraine that Russia occupies, that Crimea is undisputed Russian territory (Trump has said as much, as in, the people want to be part of Russia!), and all sanctions imposed based on the Russian attacks on Ukraine and the seizing of Crimea are no longer appropriate. Oh, and another minor detail, the multi-billion deal for getting the oil out of the arctic can proceed. (Wonder who gets a 'taste' of the expected 1 Billion in profit?)
6
Well, I think Manafort's sentencing will be delayed until Mueller's Report comes out. In a nutshell, we need to see if Trump is identified as having allegedly committed indictable crimes, even idf indictment must be postponed while Trump remains in office.
If so, and if Trump then pardons Manafort, the matter will go to The Supreme Court for a determination as to whether the President can pardon a co-conspirator-an alleged co-conspirator.
Or Manafort, if he can. may just throw Trump under the proverbial bus right now since otherwise he will be in jail for the rest of his life and his home may be forfeit,too.
4
Why no breaking news story on Trump’s DHS gutting the task forces meant to protect our elections, and especially the 2020 presidential election from foreign meddling? This is how Trump will win re-election. He will once again openly invite Russia and other players to meddle while the media looks the other way.
11
I understand that prison has been harsh on Manafort and that his health has greatly deteriorated. Ask yourself, why would someone subject themselves to a life sentence in prison? Why is he willing to die in prison?
Presidential Pardon aside, I submit he is protecting his family. Look at the attack on Sergei Skripal and his daughter, or Alexander Litvinenko. He knows what will happen should he "fully" cooperate with the investigations.
8
And where are the Trump supporters on this? Are they still claiming "no collusion" despite how much evidence, proof and conviction occur? It seems there's a awful lot of Somethingburger for them to chew on these days.
Yet, are they so delusional that they still deny? Or are they just embarrassed at their own gullibility, and going silent for a change (as Nixon's loyalists did in the end)?
Admitting they were wrong would help the country, help remove the Pres sooner, and let us move forward with damage repair. C'mon GOP & Trumpies, time to step up.
9
Manafort was a private citizen when he was Trump's campaign manager. His attempt to undermine the government of the United States by making a deal with Russian operatives to have sanctions lifted after Trump's election, and to provide them with polling data to aid them in their interference in our election are acts of Treason. If Trump knew about any of it, than he too committed treason.
18 US Code 2381: Whoever... adheres to [the enemies of the United States], giving them aid and comfort... is guilty of treason and shall suffer death, or shall be imprisoned not less than five years and fined under this title but not less than $10,000; and shall be incapable of holding any office under the United States.
7
Trump could be the first president to go to the inauguration of his successor in a limo with license plates made by his campaign manager.
26
@Hugh Briss
Or maybe the next President travels with plates made by Trump.
6
It should be evident that American politics is filled with scandal and corruption that once again gives evidence that it's all about the money and filling the pockets of those in power.
9
@James Funny how all this scandal and corruption which you attribute to "American politics" didn't manifest while Obama was president.
5
@Jack Toner
Obama didn't have a cabal of treasonous criminals lining their pockets. Congress is another story.
4
You are so correct. I’m sick of all this whining about all politicians being corrupt. This is just a red herring to deflect the spotlight from the guilty...in this case major players in the Republican Party. It reminds me of the doping scandal that surrounded cyclist Lance Armstrong. Fans of his would exclaim to me that “they all do it”. My reply would be: Does that make it OK? My mom taught me that two or more wrongs don’t make anything right.
3
Unquestionably Manafort has been promised a presidential pardon by trump. What is shocking is this flock of goons that surround trump actually believe that not only are they above the law but could actually get away with throwing the election and committing acts of treason.
14
Lies and more lies. Mueller has done a great job of exposing them and prosecuting the liars. A number of side issues have been discovered, money laundering and fraud among them. Great work but inconsequential to the bigger question, why so much lying. People who lie do so for a reason. Yes, begging for a pardon may be part of the answer but surely does not address why certain actions initially occurred. Hopefully the SCO will get to the bottom of these lies. Doing so provides the answer expected of Mueller and his team by the public, both Trump supporters and those anti Trump.
18
@OldNCMan Yes that is a big question. One that Trump supporters never seem to ask.
5
List of indictments and plea deals so far:
1) George Papadopoulos
2) Paul Manafort
3) Rick Gates
4) Michael Flynn
5-20) 13 Russian nationals and three Russian companies
21) Richard Pinedo
22) Alex van der Zwaan
23) Konstantin Kilimnik
24-35) 12 Russian GRU officers
36) Michael Cohen
37) Roger Stone
Now Republicans, repeat after me:
Lock Them Up!
Lock Them Up!
18
Yes, it's called "the swamp", J. Alfred Prufrock
11
Among the many interesting questions is why did Trump take on Manafort? Manafort's Ukraine lobbying was well known, and already odious.
Even this relatively-simple question is shrouded in conflicting stories -- see
http://time.com/5003298/paul-manafort-indictment-donald-trump/
To what extent were Manafort's known shady contacts with the Russians a plus to Trump?
9
Donald is a liar and crook magnet. It's astonishing how he attracts criminals to work for him. When he says he only hires the best people, it's quite clear what he means by "best". Anyone with a shred of integrity or respect for the rule of law need not apply.
14
Savvy reporters will drop this topic. The 'Russia did it' thing is dying like those smelly monsters that was up on some remote beach.
@Bartolo - Keep telling yourself that.
2
@Bartolo. List of indictments and plea deals so far:
1) George Papadopoulos
2) Paul Manafort
3) Rick Gates
4) Michael Flynn
5-20) 13 Russian nationals and three Russian companies
21) Richard Pinedo
22) Alex van der Zwaan
23) Konstantin Kilimnik
24-35) 12 Russian GRU officers
36) Michael Cohen
37) Roger Stone
3
Mueller has nothing so far on Trump, who is not my pick for dogcatcher.
To draw on a famous quote by previous co-conspirators in the White House:
"Let him twist slowly, twist slowly in the wind.”
The chances that Manafort is lying on his own are nil... simply not possible given Presidente Chump's penchant for sociopathic micro-managing.
10
During this same time Manafort still owed Russian billionaire Deripaska money and was seeking to have direct contacts with him as well which would be a direct line to Putin. Deripaska is close to Putin and Kilimnik.
“If he needs private briefings we can accommodate," Manafort wrote in the July 7, 2016 email.
So why in the world would the Republican Congress allow sanctions of Deripaska’s company’s to be released when Deripaska is involved in all this and will make billions on the sanction relief?
There should be another vote on this effort to help Deripaska after the information was made available that he will make money. Of course, McConnell would never do it, and who knows why?
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/manafort-offered-to-give-russian-billionaire-private-briefings-on-2016-campaign/2017/09/20/399bba1a-9d48-11e7-8ea1-ed975285475e_story.html
13
@Debbie senior Republicans receiving Russian money:
$7.35M accepted by Donald Trump and PACs for Mitch McConnell, Marco Rubio, Scott Walker, Lindsey Graham, John Kasich and John McCain, from a Ukrainian-born oligarch/business partner of two of Vladimir Putin's favorite oligarchs and a Russian government bank.
• During the 2015-2016 election season, Ukrainian-born billionaire Leonard "Len" Blavatnik contributed $6.35 million to leading Republican candidates and incumbent senators.
• Mitch McConnell was the top recipient of Blavatnik's donations, collecting $2.5 million for his GOP Senate Leadership Fund under the names of two of Blavatnik's holding companies, Access Industries and AI Altep Holdings, according to Federal Election Commission documents and
http://www.OpenSecrets.org
• Marco Rubio's Conservative Solutions PAC and his Florida First Project received $1.5 million through Blavatnik's two holding companies.
Other high dollar recipients of funding from Blavatnik were PACS representing:
• former Wisconsin Gov Scott Walker $1.1 million
• South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham $800,000
• Ohio Governor John Kasich $250,000
• Arizona Senator John McCain $200,000.
6
To those supporters outside the city of origin of the crime family in the Oval Office (please find photos of unannounced Russians there May 16th) this is pretty consistent with the street corner hooliganism in his New York City real estate deals for the past 40 years.
11
If you knew anything about Urkraine, it was clear from the time Manafort became Trump's campaign director that the fix was in with Russia. This was because Manafort, up to then an obscure political operative, was Putin's man. But this link was not evident unless you knew something about Ukraine. When I lived and worked there 2008-2010, Manafort was the Ugly American who, as a highly paid political consultant, had helped bring an ex-con from eastern Ukraine, Yanukovich, to power as Ukraine's president. Yanukovich, like Trump, was a gangster who worked for Putin. When he followed Putin's orders to renege on a deal to bring Ukraine into the EU's orbit, he sparked the 2014 "Maidan" revolution (named after Kiev's central square where the rebellion began) which deposed Yanukovich, who fled to Russia where he remains to this day under Putin's protection. Those of us who love Ukraine also thought this meant we had seen the last of his despicable Svengali, Manafort. But no. When he popped up again at the head of the Trump campaign a light bulb went off. There could only be one reason: Putin had ordered that he be placed there. Sounds fantastic, right? Conspiracy theory stuff, right? But now, as this article demonstrates, Mueller is proving that Manafort was the bag man -- the main line of communication -- between the Trump campaign and Russian intelligence. Collusion in plain sight.
25
Thanks for the inside story. You pretty much explained what the media has be creeping along with for over a year. It amazes me how slow justice is in the US.
3
@Barry Schreibman Why this isn't a Times Pick is a mystery to me.
3
@Barry Schreibman
God, I hope so!
1
Elliott Abrams gets pardoned by GHWB, along with a bunch of others in Iran Contra, then gets recycled back into the Executive Branch by GWB, and now by DJT.
"Scooter" Libby's served no time in prison because of GWB, then got a pardon from DJT.
"Pauli" Manafort deserves to be locked up for a very long time, but it is clear that for white males who serve corrupt and lying POTUS, they serve very little to no time, as opposed to the average poor Joe, especially if convicted while being black.
The US Government structure and the penal system are revoltingly sick.
12
@James Barth Take note of the Attorney General at the time of the preemptive use of pardons to shield the Bush presidency from criminal prosecution: William Barr.
It is no coincidence that Barr, hostile to Mueller's investigation, has been dredged up by the Republican party to become Trump's AG.
4
New flash!
Manafort lied!
4
"Mr. Manafort joins a string of former Trump aides who have been found to have lied to federal investigators about their involvement with Russians …."
What is the possible explanation for this?
They are all lying on one subject. What are the Republicans who still enable Trump thinking -- that it's a grand coincidence? Or maybe that all of Trump's associates are such compulsive liars that they would commit any string of felonies once federal investigators talked to them? They just lied about Russia because that is what they were asked about? Throwing your life away for nothing is dumber than a bag of rocks. How could anyone have that many idiots surrounding them?
Please, can someone explain what McConnell and the others enabling Trump are thinking right now. Because we're talking about a foreign enemy attacking our democracy -- the pee tape rumor and the porn star and the nude model are funny -- but Putin attacking our democracy isn't.
13
Follow the Russian $. Trump and his New York 3rd rate thugs are simply cheap money launderers. Time for jail, fat boy
14
1., Trump will give up the game when his money/business are threatened, not one minute before, not one minute after....so we can stop watching MSNBC for a few months.
2. Manafort must be awfully confident of a pardon to be doubling down.
3. Despite his mendacity, meretriciousness, mysogyny and fatuous boorishness, it IS plausible trump wasnt directly legally provable involved with Kremlin, but its really hard to see how Jared doesnt require a pardon in all this. In that case, Trump will dig in as he will stay around for Jareds sentencing so he can pardon.
4. THe real question will Republicans stick with him when he is a publiclay unindicted co-conspirator, who has just pardoned Manafort and his own son in law ? Unfortunately, based on what I saw in state of the union last week, unquestionably yes....
If we end up with a criminal in the White House, making emergency declarations that have no basis, walking away from our core alliances, openly insulting and threatening anyone who isn’t a straight, male WASP, and appointing judges that openly take it upon themselves to destroy Roe, locking up kids crossing the borders in the desert, and using the kremlin again to influence the 2020 election, can civil war be ruled out ? Start buying gold while its still below $1400 and ounce .....
7
Bank fraud and tax evasion. Good enough for me. Lock him up.
7
Nice to know that alternate facts are not acceptable in a court of law at least.
7
Manfort thought he could game the system and that he was smarter than prosecutors. Apparently he was wrong. He should get maximum sentences for wasting time and money and he should be in prison now, not someday.
7
This latest Manafort lie has pardon written all over it. Here are Manafort's alternatives--tell the truth and go to jail for the rest of your life OR keep telling lies and expect pardon in the nesar future.
7
How are they (the prosecutors) allowed to sell off his (Manafort's) property. He has not even been to trial yet? Does anyone think that he is the only crooked lobbyist in Washington?
@Rexl: have you forgotten that Manafort was convicted of 8 counts after a trial in August?
4
These arrogant, corrupt crooks are literally laughing at us and OUR Justice Department.
The judge had better give Manafort something to laugh about - at least 30 years in prison in solitary confinement with only monthly visitation rights - especially from his crook lawyers.
7
Some comments seem to suggest that lying to law enforcement, money laundering, white collar crime, etc, are no big deal. No biggie at all. Not to mention cooperation with a hostile foreign government.
One of the very most precious things about our country is the expectation that laws will be followed, i. e., the citizens' respect for the law. Don't mess with that, Fox News or anybody else, please!!
Just filed and paid my taxes. Paid more than I wanted to pay. I expect to do this sort of thing. I am an American citizen. I expect the same from people in positions of power.
10
You don't have to be a genius to see what was going on here.
Don the Con must be scared witless knowing the enormously powerful tools Mueller brought to bear in his fact finding. Mueller knows EVERYTHING ANYONE did, spent or spoke.
At this point Manafort is nothing more than a side show.
It isn't over till its over, but Trump is going down very soon.
7
Manafort is caught hook line and sinker, gratuitously and brazenly lying, but then Trump probably gives 2 hooks. Going by his ruffled rants about the ''witch hunts'', a humorless, hubris-ridden, and a haughty Trump, will continue to maintain his feigned innocence, for ever. A weisenheimer he is, Trump's many political stooges are biting the dust, and Trump continues to moonwalk many issues, as if they do not exist. Both rump and Manafort are inclined to pronounce the word C-O-L-L-U-S-I-O-N as W-I-T-C-H-H-U-N-T, as many have already been aware of. When he engendered last month's government shutdown, many furloughed workers had to live on the largesse of their friends and donors.
One guesses the rhubarb that ensued will reform Trump so he can sign the new border bill. But then again, a fickle Trump may still refuse to endorse the bill, on the spur of the moment, like he had done in the past. Manafort's legal woes may hobble Trump a bit, and still the latter will, in all likelihood, treat all these as picayune diversions. As Manafort struggles into the jail cell, Trump will, every day, sashay into the white house or a lectern, like nothing has ever has happened.
As mountebanks, Manafort and Trump have created an ugly imbroglio, very hard to extricate from. Like they say, spare the rod and spoil the child.
Incredibly, prominent GOP senators like McConnell, Romney, Graham, Cruz, Cornyn, Burr, Johnson, and Thune are all in lock-step support of trump’s kowtowing to Putin’s demands for US sanctions relief on Russian oligarchs and their business interests. It shows just how deeply and all pervasively the trump administration’s self-serving corruption which dramatically threatens national security has taken hold. Under normal circumstances this kind of abject support of blatant political meddling in full view would sound alarms all over the place. But a kind of public nonchalance about these developments seems to have settled in, emboldening these senators to sense that they can turn a blind eye to activity bordering on treason with impunity, which is extremely troubling.
9
If we know he’ll get pardoned, can we save a few of his charges for post trump and bring him up on the other crimes when there’s nobody in office to get him off the hook?
3
Paul Manafort was not convicted of lying to prosecutors. That would have required a trail by jury and evidence beyond a reasonable doubt. Judge Jackson found the “preponderance of evidence” showed he had broken his plea bargain agreement by lying to prosecutors. This means that Manafort more likely than not lied to prosecutors. (Both parties had agreed in advanced to abide by the preponderance of evidence in matters related to Manafort’s plea bargaining agreement.)
The question is why did Manafort lie about conversations with Konstantin Kilimnik, who managed the Kiev office of Manafort’s consulting firm. They apparently discussed ways to broker a peace agreement between Ukraine and Russia that would lead to the lifting of sanctions against some of their clients. A possible explanation is that Manafort did not want Donald Trump to learn he was leveraging his position as Trump campaign manager in ways that would help his consulting firm but might damage the Trump campaign. This would not have been illegal, but knowledge of it would make President Trump less likely to grant Manafort a pardon.
3
@William Case - Cute story. Now explain why every other member of Trump's inner circle met with the Russians and lied about it.
1
When individuals such as Manafort make false claims (lie) the reason usually falls in one of three categories:1) they have something to hide;2) it is the most expedient course of conduct; or 3) they cannot distinguish reality from fantasy. I do not think that Manafort is living in a fantasy world and cannot tell truth from fantasy (unlike potentially Trump). Nor would lying be the most expedient course of conduct given the criminal exposure for making false statements. And remember that Manafort (like Flynn and others) was represented by high powered criminal defense lawyers who would have warned them of their potential criminal exposure for lying. This leaves, category one, that Manafort (and others) were lying because they had something to hide. This is also supported by the maxim that the simplest explanation is usually the most accurate one. What would Manafort (and others) have to hide that that was so damaging that they would be willing to go to jail? It seems increasingly clear that the answer is that the Trump campaign accepted and sought help from the Russians to win the 2016 Presidential election.
2
Paul Manafort was not convicted of lying to prosecutors. That would have required a trail by jury and evidence beyond a reasonable doubt. Judge Jackson found the “preponderance of evidence” showed he had broken his plea bargain agreement by lying to prosecutors. This means that Manafort more likely than not lied to prosecutors. (Both parties had agreed in advanced to abide by the preponderance of evidence in matters related to Manafort’s plea bargaining agreement.)
The question is why did Manafort lie about conversations with Konstantin Kilimnik, who managed the Kiev office of Manafort’s consulting firm. They apparently discussed ways to broker a peace agreement between Ukraine and Russia that would lead to the lifting of sanctions against some of their clients. Discussing Ukraine-Russia peace proposals is not illegal, so why would Manafort lie bout it? A possible explanation is that Manafort did not want Donald Trump to learn he was leveraging his position as Trump campaign manager in ways that would help his consulting firm but might damage the Trump campaign. Knowledge of it would make President Trump less likely to grant Manafort a pardon.
1
And Trump mocks, insults and laughs at Mueller, the FBI and the US Justice Department, which under Trump's rule has become the "I'll Just Recuse Myself If I Thought the Coffee Was Made by a Russian Department of the Blind Leading the Blind," so exactly what is Mueller's investigation, including taking down Manafort, actually doing except getting defense lawyers paid and keeping judges and court reporters busy? If there is enough to nail Trump on, get it done--indict and convict Trump, now. Quit being a nice guy. Take the gloves off. Now means now.
Nail Trump, now.
Does Mueller actually believe, after two years of the Republicans choosing party over country, that the US Senate is going to wake up and honor the Constitution? That ain't gonna' happen. DOJ under Trump will be all too happy to bury Mueller's report.
Nothing in the Constitution states that an American president cannot be indicted, however. To Robert Mueller III, as a brother Marine infantryman, I can only say--Throw Away the Book! There's the "go by the book" way of getting the job done in this world, and that has failed you, sir.
There's another way to get the job done in this world, one preached to us in the Marine infantry:
Improvise.
Adapt.
Overcome.
Time for Mueller to improvise, high time to complete his investigation and indict Trump, and get the full report on the public record. Nice guys finish last.
5
To test the Department of Justice internal rule that a sitting president must not be indicted, imagine that a president walks out on to Fifth Avenue with a gun and shoots the Chief Justice Dept. attorney of the Southern District of New York.
We would find out in a New York minute that the Justice Department's rule is not the law.
It is not the severity of the crime that dictates the American ideal and Constitutional provision that no person is above the law and that we will have no king.
1
I know I'm going against the grain on this one but I don't think Manafort is getting a pardon. I'm sure he wants a pardon. However, there are only a few possible scenarios for the President. Only one has an outside chance of ending in a pardon for Manafort.
Scenario one: Trump never makes it to 2020. Republican support for the President cracks and he is either forced to resign or forcibly removed from office.
Scenario two: Similar to number one, Trump is forced to decline the Republican nomination as Republicans face catastrophic defeat in 2020.
Scenario three: Trump is voted out of office in 2020.
In all three scenarios, Trump and his family are out office before the statute of limitations runs out. Trump is a private citizen subject to the full weight of the law. Manafort probably ranks pretty low on the list of people whose hides Trump is looking to save. Pardoning Manafort could actually expand Trump's legal jeopardy. He's going to be bargaining for number one. Manafort isn't getting a pardon.
Scenario four: Trump survives his legal challenges and gets reelected in 2020.
Manafort might get a pardon on Trump's way out the door in 2024. This is the only chance left for Manafort. Those are extremely long odds. First, you have to trust Trump. Bad idea. Second, Republicans are not going to be happy if Trump pardons anyone connected to the Russia investigation. Pardons have political consequences. Look at President Ford.
5
Trump and Manafort have two problems: Gates , who stayed through the transition and inauguration , and Flynn who went even further and found a spot in the White House. They can't be characterized as peripheral characters but rather critical. I think Tom Barrack, the father of the MAGA fist, is in hot water too.
Trump Jr and Kushner are useless for they have no conscience and know they will be pardoned. SDNY awaits however.
2
So he lied. Nowadays, that's a badge of honor for people in leadership. It's now up to the judge to meter out proper sentencing and with conservatives in charge, don't bet on it. A pardon is waiting in the wings anyway. American Democracy is a sham.
Manafort is caught hook line and sinker, gratuitously and brazenly lying, but then Trump probably gives 2 hooks. Going by his ruffled rants about the ''witch hunts'', a humorless, hubris-ridden, and a haughty Trump, will continue to maintain his feigned innocence, for ever. A weisenheimer he is, Trump's many political stooges are biting the dust, and Trump continues to moonwalk many issues, as if they do not exist. When he engineered last month's government shutdown, many furloughed workers had to live on the largesse of their friends and donors.
One guesses the rhubarb that ensued will reform Trump so he can sign the new border bill. Manafort's legal woes may hobble Trump a bit, and still the latter will, in all likelihood, treat all these as picayune diversions. As Manafort struggles into the jail cell, Trump will, every day, sashay into the white house or a lectern, like nothing has ever has happened.
As mountebanks, Manafort and Trump have created an ugly imbroglio, very hard to extricate from. Like they say, spare the rod and spoil the child.
1
trump insists time and again there’s no collusion. Now it is turning out that there wasn’t only collusion but a full-blown blatant conspiracy consorting with an adversarial foreign power ... essentially a betrayal of the country, a treasonous act!. It's all over for trump, no question.
3
One has to wonder why the president is surrounded by such a bevy of liars. I offer three hypotheses: 1) They are a group of people who can't tell the difference between truth and lies. 2) They are all hiding some major criminal infraction. 3) They were selected specifically for their ability to lie freely and fluently. It was central to their job description.
3
Trump built an apparently successful career based on the art of lying. Lying is the currency of his realm. No one should be surprised that his cronies and senior advisers have a similar value system. You make your mark by lying. Manafort,Giuliani Cohen are leading examples of the Trump culture. Finally Manafort will pay a stiff price in a lengthy jail sentence. The bell is tolling for Trump.
2
The only logical reason that makes sense to me for Manafort's lies is that he expects a pardon if he keeps his mouth shut about anything that would negatively impact Trump's reelection. If Trumps gets reelected he will then pardon Manafort. Even if he loses reelection he can still pardon Manafort in his lame duck period. Other than that or possible fear for his life from the Russians it doesn't make sense for Manafort to keep on lying.
When Obama judges rule on Trump or conservatives, the result is almost a forgone conclusion. They, as a body, have shown themselves incapable as impartial jurists.
@WAYNESBOROOBSERVER - Nice try but many of these judges were appointed by Republicans and there's no way of getting around the fact that these guys broke the law.
I guess these corrupt jurists could not get Mr Manafort to lie about The Don. It appears he is much more noble than has been reported. Bravo,Paulie.
They have already confiscated Manafort's ill-gotten gains, and even if Trump pardons him, he will bear the costs of numerous civil suits from the Ukrainian government in US courts.
Trump and his team have probably been gaming some plan that has Trump resigning, making Mike Pence president and then pardoning Trump and his family from the precedent created by Gerald Ford.
I suspect we will go into the election of 2020 with Pence in office, pardons to all parties to the Trump administration, and the Republicans setting their hopes on voter suppression to put Pence over the top.
I don't know that Mueller wants to play the game, but suspect that sealed indictments, may frustrate un-indicted parties with residual charges after pardons are issued on the Federal level.
By that time we will be in a dire state from the next recession and the spiraling Federal deficit, none of which the current administration will be prepared to deal with except by Twitter storm.
11
@UTBG
Exactly my forecast from a year ago.
The question is, will the AG and Governor of NY State have the intestinal fortitude to purse what will no doubt be a mountain of state level charges for financial crimes? Will the taxpayers of NY State be willing to foot the costs of litigating these cases? By that time will the press or the public really care, or will they just want to turn the page on an ugly chapter of history?
@UTBG Except Pence is eyeballs deep in the Russia Scandal! He knew all about Flynn and he is Toast!
3
Let's face he is going to pardon anyone and everyone in his sphere.
The only way to counter this is to delay sentencing until his term is over. Given the current state of our country, I can't believe he could get re-elected.
6
After reading yet another article informing me again that yet again Manafort has lied a cherished E. B. White quote comes to mind:
"There's no limit to how complicated things can get, on account of one thing always leading to another."
20
And remember it was Manafort who pushed for trump to choose Pence as his VP running mate.
17
What is it with people's use of the word "untruthful" and other euphemisms for "lying"? Call it what it is. This whole crew in the White House is CONSTANTLY lying, straight up. Trying to use softer language is not necessary or helpful.
26
What is the point of convicting Manafort for his crimes if Trump will Pardon him. We should wait until Trump is out of office & then go after him, this will prevent double Jeopardy.This goes for all of Trumps cohorts involved in Collusion with the Russians, & obstruction of justice.
10
Many criminals, likely quite treasonous ones, constantly lie and bide their time while counting on a "presidential" pardon from the criminal Traitor in Chief. I call him 'traitor' because if he were in fact President and if he were in fact a true patriot serving the greater good of the United States and if he were in fact not guilty of criminal activity himself, he would be fully and wholeheartedly aiding and supporting Mueller's investigation to root out the evil that has been associated with his political campaign and his administration. He is instead obstructing and denigrating the work being done by good, honest Americans and the only conclusion one can logically draw from his actions is that he is running scared of being caught & convicted. Quod erat demonstrandum.
33
I understand that Manafort would lie, it’s probably in his DNA at this point - but Gates knows everything Manafort did, and he’s fully cooperating, so how does lying help Manafort?
6
P-A-R-D-O-N......
We need to call Manafort what he is... a SPY working against the U.S. government. Semantics matter.
24
@kellygirl212 So right. I wish that Judge Emmett Sullivan who Flynn recently appeared before for sentencing could only be the one sentencing Manafort. He did not mince words w/Flynn and I would love to hear what he would say to Manafort.
1
Trump will pardon Manafort but only if he continues to lie. Manafort knows this so he continues to lie to save himself. Thus the Game of Thrones continues.
3
It’s more than “polling data” that Manafort shared with the Rissians via his cigar chomping friend. Several Trump associates can be linked to Cambridge Analytica which was the company behind the targeted Facebook campaign by Russian trolls to help Trump get elected. Steve Bannon was involved with its creation and John Bolton was one of its earliest users. The “polling data” that Cambridge Analytica generated has already been linked to the troll campaign but it was never determined how they got it. Enter Manafort stage right.
18
Trump motto.....Even if there is a giant Russian flag sticking out of your but.t....DENY DENY DENY.....Then blame Clinton, law enforcement and the press.
18
Really, did anyone doubt that Paul Manafort lies to investigators? Whenever that man opens his mouth, he lies!
2
There is no, "maybe" about this. Withdrawal of a cooperation agreement releases the prosecution from using any crimes confessed or charges formerly withheld from being brought to bear. By statute, the implication is that Manafort, now aged 69, will likely get an April Fools present on his birthday, April 1, 2019 of 24-30 additional years of prison sentence. Practically speaking - life in prison.
He must be terrified of Deripaska and Putin, not so much for his own life as his daughters and wife. Otherwise, he would have really cooperated.
This is not 'fear of Trump,' - This is fear of the people who own and control Trump.
32
No surprise. At age 69 and facing years of imprisonment, he probably feels he has more to gain by protecting Trump with lies, hoping for a pardon.
And I expect his fellow Italian-mafia-type Roger Stone may follow in his footsteps.
7
Like Roger Stone, Manafort is obviously playing the “loyal soldier” who’ll go to prison rather than “rat out” the Godfather, Don Trump, in the expectation of being pardoned (if said pardon hasn’t already been promised).
Manafort may want to rethink this strategy - Trump’s history of stiffing people to whom hile is indebted and publicly disavowing former loyalists when they’ve been caught doing his dirty work is well-established. He shouldn’t be surprised if Trump does nothing when he’s repeatedly run over by the legal bus.
There is no honour among thieves - and “honour” is a word that has never been associated with the despicable troll who will now be spending his time pretending to play gold in a windowless room in the White House in lieu of pretending to be President.
12
I’m completely floored by this. He seemed like such an honest guy!
16
"Mr. Manafort joins a string of former Trump aides who have been found to have lied to federal investigators"
Birds of a feather.
Trump's primary quality is lying. Lying is what Trump does first, best, and as continuously as breathing. Lying is so integral to who he is you can see the pain on his face when he his forced to read the truth fed to him by teleprompter.
And since insecure leaders seek those with similar, but nonthreatening, qualities it should be no surprise that Trump has surrounded himself with liars, fakes, and cons rather than anyone who would challenge or face him. If they do they are gone. Manafort's deal meant he didn't have to lie, but he did. The question is why. Logic leads to only a few reasons.
7
Of all of Trump’s campaign advisers, Manafort had the deepest ties to Russian operatives and oligarchs. He worked for years in Ukraine with Konstantin V. Kilimnik, a Russian citizen with ties to the Russian intelligence service that hacked the US election.
As an associate of Putin's Russian mafia Manafort was paid millions.
When Putin's gang attempted to murder the Russian spy who flipped, and his daughter as well, he was sending a message to Manafort and the rest of the criminals that they had enriched.
Thus the statement from Manafort’s lead lawyer, that said Manafort "wanted to make sure his family was able to remain safe and live a good life.”
Manafort knows what Putin would do to him and his family will be worse than jail. And we know that Putin's sock puppet Trump, is likely to pardon him to shut him up.
21
Thanks Mr Mueller you made my day .
8
I sure hope there’s a NY case on the way if he gets a federal pardon!
10
If Manafort, Cohen, Stone, Eric and Donny junior, and the rest of the players of this sad and sordid affair believe that practicing "omerta" is going to save them, along with any hint of a pardon from the grifter, perhaps the actions against Manafort may be a wake up call. Or not.
Trump over the years has proven to be coated with teflon given he is now the president regardless of his fraudulent activities and these other actors may believe that teflon has rubbed off onto them in their continued illegal actions.
We shall see.
9
Guess at which 2020 political convention there will be chants of "Lock him up!"?
6
I hope you are wrong. The chanting ties the GOP to nazis as it should. Democrats need to win at least in part with a promise to turn away from the most disturbing elements of this electoral college presidency: lying, chanting, baseball caps, name calling.
"I'll choose the best people for my administration."
-donald j. bone-spurs
Add that to the list of lies.
What are we up to now?
8,462 lies at last count.
7
Enjoy the intermission...this story is only halfway told.
6
The takeaway?
Manafort committed very serious crimes, and knows Putin will try to kill him
Mueller and FBI have evidence to PROVE the connections between the trump campaign manager and Russia, enough evidence to definitively show when their "witnesses" are lying.
7
None of this surprises me anymore, and if Robert Mueller produces a smoking gun but the public isn't allowed to see it (William Barr gets confirmed today), what good is all this knowledge?
There is something dramatically different about this presidential scandal and others, including Watergate. Except for episodes of treason in the early republic, which didn't involve the executive branch, I can't recall any president who was investigated for conspiring with the enemy.
There's an insouciance among Republicans about the severity of the potential crimes committed by the Trump campaign that is simply breathtaking.
People keep mentioning this, but it can't be stated enough: If Barack Obama had been elected with the help of, and coordination with, a national adversary, how long would it have taken him to be impeached?
55
@ChristineMcM
Every day there needs to be a reminder that Trump is also the head of the Republican Party.
Trump's Campaign Committee is paying the legal bills of Manafort and others. Think about that: the legal fees of these scoundrels is just another campaign expense.
The GOP may have convinced itself that it will emerge unscathed but they are kidding themselves. Ryan and Haley , the future of the party, are ambitious and their exits were about self-preservation.
8
@ChristineMcM: Listening to many legal authorities weigh in has made one thing abundantly clear to me: the truth will come out no matter how hard Barr and other Republicans try to suppress it.
As one expert said on TV last week, in Washington there's no such thing as a secret. Nixon's "Plumber's Unit" was created to stop leaks. It failed. Trump's White House is like a sieve, and he has been spectacularly unsuccessful at plugging up the holes.
Congressional Democrats are calculating their end-game strategies based on the assumption that Trump will try to block Mueller's report. The prosecutors working for the Special Counsel also must be aware of this. It has added an extra dimension to their work--making sure not only that the investigation is completed but that the truth is fully revealed. I have great confidence in their abilities to do so. Compared to Robert Mueller, Adam Schiff and the good guys pursuing justice and transparency, Trump and his people are bumbling idiots.
The "smoking gun" will be the most interesting aspect of the story. What will it be? No one can predict.
It could be a damning recording of Trump's voice made by Michael Cohen. (Many tapes were seized by the FBI from Cohen's office, and Trump freaked out.) It could be a decision by someone to reveal evidence that Trump offered Manafort a pardon to lie. There has been so much wrongdoing by Trump, his family members and others around him that it could be almost anything.
1
What worries me is that these well practised conspirators like Trump and Putin employ so many layers of "cut outs" like Manafort that we shall never find out the truth of their crimes.
23
One can only surmise that by lying Manafort is angling for a Trump pardon. Fatal error. Trump only demands loyalty. He doesn't pay it back.
15
Manafort's lying I'd say merits incarceration at a severe federal facilities...with a roommate nicknamed 'Randy.'
5
Let’s see.
Two counts of conspiracy and eight counts of fraud.
Don Jr. should be very afraid.
“We have a lot of money coming in from Russia.”
“It that’s what you’re saying, I love it.”
Tick tock.
50
Wake up, America! It is almost unbelievable that there have been so many crooked people working for the current regime in DC. They openly, and boldly lie in support of a president who, himself thinks he above the law. And don't forget who supports these grifters: the Repulsican Party. Remember all of this the next time you vote.
64
When will the NYT acknowledge that the private polling data Manafort gave GRU-connected Kilimnik is the key collusion/conspiracy evidence that Mueller is investigating?
14
@max parrish
Did you read the article? They just did that.
Trump”s modus operandi is to exaggerate, obfuscate and to out and out lie.He gets away with it and his base seems to love it.All of his aids have adopted his fondness for falsehoods-unfortunately for them they used these falsehoods in their defense before Federal Judges and were under oath.They either did not know what perjury is or were living with the delusion that Courts would be as casual about the truth as Trump who hired them.It is stunning that so many felt so free to lie to Congress and the Courts.There are no perjury traps-tell the truth!
25
Ask yourself: Why have so many operatives in Trump's orbit been busted for lying? Why do most of the lies have some connection to Russia?
Gee, those are tough ones, aren't they?
34
Don't think we need a judge to declare that Manafort lied (again), do we?
9
And it’s possible, perhaps likely, that Trump based many of his written answers to Mueller off of Manafort’s lies.
21
We seem to be close to establishing that there existed a quid pro quo relationship between said campaign manager and said Russian intelligence services. Changes were made to the Republican Policy Platform to more conform with Russian peace objectives, and Russia interfered in the election guided by polling data that Manafort gave them. In the court of public opinion, that is going to look a lot like conspiracy and potentially treason. It is difficult to believe, in light of his public calls for Russian assistance, that Trump was not on board that train.
42
Mr Manafort has lied many times in a manner that is being judged criminal. I will be very interested in the sentence he gets.
A destitute I have read can get life imprisonment in some parts of USA for his third crime no matter how trivial.
On the other hand a criminal who can afford a good lawyer can commit a long series of crimes and when convicted will get a sentence which will be longer than the sentence for the worst crime but far less than the cumulative sentences appropriate for each of the crimes tried separately.
This seems to apply in Britain as well as USA.
101
@irdac Yes, if you consider the justice system in the K that invariably favors the victim you might say "for even a trivial crime" but there are many crimes that are not trivial and further, if a person commits the same crimes over and over again then let them go to prison, instead of being let free on a "suspended sentence" as in the UK to victimize other innocent people. And ruin neighborhoods, as happens all too often in the UK. As to the criminal who can afford lawyers this is the same both in the UK and in the US. So don't understand what you are saying irdac. Frankly I prefer American justice.
@JHM
I have read in NYT of a youth who was convicted for the third time of petty theft (eg stealing a few packets of cigarettes) and was given a life sentence. That American justice seems to me to be unjust.
My sole reference to Britain was to the case where multiple crimes go to trial as a group and a lawyer helps to bring about the one sentence for all the crimes. I am sorry I did not make it clear that I was referring to the multiple crimes of the lawyer supported criminal being dealt with in one court case
I thoroughly agree with criminals getting a punishment for each of their crimes but it seems that if many crimes are committed before the criminal is caught the punishment is less than the total deserved.
I do not like American justice which puts a poor person in jail because he cannot pay bail and in some cases the trial reveals he was not guilty.
.
A pardon for Manafort is almost a foregone conclusion for the simple reason that trump wants to demonstrate he has control of the process and can frustrate the process.
trump will do the same for his family, Roger Stone and others. The pardons will come in the final days of the trump administration as he exits office following his defeat in the 2020 election.
150
@Allen82 Trump's attempt to use his pardoning power - at least in the case of Manafort- now that quid pro quo has been deeply implied by the judge's ruling and the prosecutors will trigger a void of those powers as the Constitution forbids pardon powers used by the executive to obstruct justice or interfere with an inquiry into executive corruption and treason.
43
@jwp-nyc
I do hope that The Don will pardon Mr Manafort after one week in jail,deeming that enough punishment for his business dealings.
@jwp-nyc - The Constitution only cites obstruction used in connection with Impeachment.
Why do you think the pardons of Ollie North and other Iran-Contra notables stood unchallenged?
Congress did not want to impeach Bush.
3
And yet Mitch McConnell will say nothing to see here lets move on to some bipartisan cooperation on they wall of Trump's please. I have the feeling their is way more to drop and that Mueller does in fact have a smoking gun.
161
@Chris
It is probable that Mueller has damning evidence, but that William Barr will not allow the evidence to see the light of day. Our hope is that Mr Barr knows that the truth will surface, as it always does, and that he has regard for how history will see his coming obstruction. But I wouldn't count on it.
13
Total arrogance on Manafort's part or it's because he has already negotiated his pardon agreement with Trump and Pence and this was just an effort to slow and distract Mueller.
197
@Chris it was mainly a way to allow Trump to get a peak at Mueller's cards.
20
@Chris
Let's hope so,Paulie has faith in The Don.
1
@Chris
Is it possible that Manafort refused to implicate Trump and now Mueller is punishing him with longer sentences than were provided for in the plea agreement?
I am as far-removed from being a Trump supporter as is possible, but doesn't this Mueller maneuver have a sense of extortion to it?
1
Now who could Manafort possibly be lying to protect? Who could stand to benefit from such lies? And why would private polling data from Cambridge Analytica be shared at a meeting about a Ukrainian peace plan that would end with the removal of sanctions against Moscow?
So silly of me, but it sounds as though there was some kind of quid pro quo, some..what is the word? "collusion" or something going on between the Russians and the Trump campaign.
406
A little history lesson and business too Donald Dotard ...the buck stops at the top...that means you. You indeed colluded just by the act of being in charge.
13
@raven55, last night, Jeremy Bash, a former chief of staff at DoD and at the CIA, reminded people that it is quite possible that Manafort was a Russian agent when he joined the campaign, and said that if so, Trump colluding with Manafort was Trump colluding with Russia.
There's quite something to that. If you look at Manafort's history of contacts, payments, work for the Opposition Bloc, and transfers through Cyprus, and do a careful timeline, Manafort stopped working for the Russian backed and funded Opposition Bloc/Yanukovych group in Ukraine only about 2-3 weeks before applying for a job with the Trump campaign.
In essence, Bash was saying that if Manafort isn't just someone who colluded with Russia but an actual Russian asset sent to join the campaign to further Russian purposes and the campaign collaboration, then everything Trump and Manafort did together was collusion.
So the answer to your question, who is he lying for, is that spies are supposed to not break under questioning and go to jail or their deaths for the country for which they work.
21
Yes, raven55, these arrogant, corrupt crooks are literally laughing at us and OUR Justice Department.
The judge had better give Manafort something to laugh about - at least 30 years in prison in solitary confinement with only monthly visitation rights - especially from his crook lawyers.
13
We've all heard more than a few times that Justice Department policy supposedly prohibits indicting a sitting president. But what if someone attains the presidency through criminal means? This purported policy seems to actually encourage criminal behavior.
477
@Boo Radley ... if DJT attained the presidency through criminal means - should he even be deemed to be a legitimate holder of the POTUS office and then granted a privilege of avoiding indictment?
I won't chant 'Lock him up!' but it would be nice to see some justice served on someone who spent 50+ years avoiding the consequences of illegal and immoral behaviour.
127
@Rebel in Disguise
What about those Supreme Court appointees? They will be around way longer than the guy in the White House.
An illegitimate Supreme Court will be the biggest accomplishment of the guy in the White House.
As a retired attorney, I am frightened what will spew forth from the current line-up of the Court.
Hang on to your seats, it's going to be a wild ride!
51
@Boo Radley
The constitution do not constrain the possibility that the president may take the office through criminal means, only to the point where he/she may committed treason. The obstruction of justice is an add-on.
Guess what, we may need to add a constitutional amendment to remove the president when he gets elected under the influence of foreign power( not necessarily treason) and by other criminal activities before he took the office.
12
Trump’s Campaign Manager passed Trump Campaign Polling Data to his Russian partner to give to Russian oligarchs...shortly after Trump was nominated.
What would the Russians want that polling data for?
Why would Manafort lie about the polling data, especially if lying would jeopardize his sweetheart deal with the Feds?
Why do so many people connected to the Trump Campaign lie, under oath, about their interactions with Russian agents?
Why do so many Russian agents keep bringing up Ukraine, Magnitsky, and, and sanctions. In their talks with Trump Campaign people?
Sen. Burr must not have been adept at Connect-the-Dots as a child.
27
Nothing hard to figure out here he is playing for a pardon.
4
Due to Paul Manafort's association with Donald Trump, and due to the fact that politically anyone associated with Trump has become a target of opportunity, he is being railroaded and tortured.
Months of solitary confinement, harsh living conditions for an older man. This is torture, just as surely as if they were water boarding him.
And for what, white collar crime. Mueller is a disgrace, he knows better, someday this could happen to him, or Comey, or Hillary, or you !
3
@Tom ,Retired Florida Junkman No worries here He'll be sentenced to about 50 years. Torture? At his current age of 70 he'll only serve about 10 years. The his torture will be completely mitigated
5
You might want to think of the hallowed words, ‘No man is above the law.’ Not even President Trump, and his merry band of criminals.
8
@Tom ,Retired Florida Junkman "white collar crime" gave us Enron and the 2008 financial crash. It's a big deal. And waterboarding is not what is happening here. Trump and his people are literally torturing migrants at the southern border who are on hunger strike by force-feeding them, kidnapping children and keeping them in cages, and shutting down environmental protections that keep you and me and everyone else from being poisoned. You're okay with all that, I guess.
9
It is not Manafort. It is Trump. The same presumption of innocence should be applied to Trump's inner circle just adding the presumption of lying. It goes with the territory.
Manafort just secured his presidential pardon.
1
"Mr. Manafort wanted the information delivered to two Ukrainian oligarchs who had financed Ukrainian political parties that were aligned with Russia." Translation: Information delivered to Putin and his anti Clinton machine. Please tell me how many of these connections to Putin do the GOP need to connect the dots? I don't even include the Trump followers because they have proven time and time again that they admire Trump for lying to them. The GOP Congress, you would, have thought would have had a bit more allegiance to the country than the almighty dollar.
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Manafort is the pinnacle of sleaze and corruption that surrounds Trump. Interesting in that it seems from this article that Manafort has been playing everybody, including Trump. Passing highly sensitive election information to Russian intelligence in the expectation of winning personally lucrative contracts is not only corrupt on several levels but is using his relationship with Trump for personal gain is stabbing his buddy "The Donald" in the back as well. Manafort's actions alone, forget the lying, could bring down the whole Trump edifice. If I were Trump, I think I would like to Manafort locked away in a Prison Max, preferably next to El Chapo!
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If Trump and his cadre aren’t guilty of conspiracy with Russia as they loudly assert, why do they keep lying about it?
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Wouldn't this story be much more newsworthy if it were found that Manafort didn't lie to prosecutors? Of course he lied, he was in the Trump campaign. They all lied, continue to lie, and will keep lying until they have drawn their last breath.
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An investigation that has produced the world record in lying about legal activity is a corrupt prosecution.
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@quisp65 When did bank fraud, tax fraud, and conspiracy to obstruct justice become legal activity? And if they’re legal, why did Manafort plead guilty/get convicted?
More important, why have so many Trump associates repeatedly lie about contacts with Russian government agents?
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@quispy65 You are mistaken “quispy65.” One may not lie when giving sworn testimony. Period. Even if one is lying about “lawful activity” it is lying under oath. This is a crime in the United States, as it should be.
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accepting a pardon could put Manafort on a very slippery slope. first, accepting a pardon is an admission guilt. second, since he cannot "plead the 5th" on aspects of his case (he has been pardoned which includes no fear of further prosecution for it), but if he is called to testify in a related case he has to testify. if he refuses to answer questions, he could be held in contempt of court and the merry-go-round starts spinning all over again. the man is doltish. like Trump he thinks he's the smartest person in the world and he knows better. this judge just told Manafort, "No, you're not."
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Crooks
Creeps
Cretins
Cravens
Criminals
Trump’s cream of the crop.
“Only the worst possible people”
Investigate
Impeach
Indict
Incarcerate
Make America Great Again
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We should start thinking about the Trump administration's end and communicating our wishes to our elected representatives. Undoubtedly, part of Trump leaving office will include allowing convicted criminals to go free. Manafort lied because he expects a Trump pardon. How many other convicted felons associated with Trump are counting on the same? If Trump is voted out of office, there is nothing to stop him from issuing pardons to his associates and more importantly, to his family. Apparently, the only way that justice can prevail is to impeach Donald Trump and convict him out of office. If he is impeached and convicted, his removal could be fast enough to prevent the miscarriage of justice, assuming that Pence is not just as crooked and contemptuous of our legal system. If you believe in our justice system, you should call your elected Federal representatives and bring your voice to the growing chorus for impeachment.
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@Harry
I think Cohen is the best example to use. He has known Trump for decades, and didn't trust him enough for a pardon before he started spilling every piece of information he knows. It's very telling that someone who knows Trump that well expects him to look out for himself and throw everyone else under the bus.
2
@Lmar the senate does not have all the information that mueller does. Please research exactly what was said.
1
Yeah thanks - I think we all saw that link given it was in the Times, which is where you just posted your enlightening comment. Tortured logic aside, were you suprised a Republican-controlled senate says “no evidence” - they’re politicians, desperate ones at that.
I admire your childlike wish for it all to be a bad dream, but this is grown-up stuff, real crimes, real evidence. Do you really believe that Mueller, a Republican vet who’s served dutifully and his team of professional investigators would go along with stupid games?
It’s hard to admit being duped. It must feel scary to see people you admired turn out to be thoroughly bent, but at some the reality will be undeniable. Like, you know, in court.
2
Trump is an old hand at dirty tricks and loan shark tactics. His hand is not stayed when obtaining the deal requires less then legal means. He did not know that he would definitely win the election, so he used every trick he could find. And he had plenty of help. Dirt on Hillary,..I love it! We need a back channel to the Kremlin Mr. Kislyak. We need to water down the anti-russian plank in the RNC platform.
Mr. Mueller, that report about done now?
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Oddly enough, the meeting of Mr. Kilimnik on Aug. 2, 2016, with Mr. Manafort took place in 666 Fifth Ave, Manhattan, of all places in New York. How many buildings are there on NY City? Just happened to belong to Jared Kushner...., but again, just a minor coincidence.... With all that "misspoken" or "confused" mind of him, he nonethelesss seemed to remember quite well in what building his conversations would have the maximum protection of not being
"tapped".....
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Trump may have one hope and prayer left -- if people believe that Manafort is just such a hopeless liar about everything, and thus is compelled to always erase all his tracks.
Common sense says "Naw -- he was trading influence over the US Government in return for Russian influence on the US election."
Trump's run for the presidency appears to have been developed as a way to falsely entice Russian officials to let him build his skyscraper. However, nobody let the Russians in on the joke, and Trump won.
No wonder Trump has to keep arranging panicked secret meetings with Putin. The investor he tried to bilk now has the upper hand.
It is straight out of "The Producers."
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Federal workers and law enforcement officers will lie or withhold the truth all the time.p I would bet dollars to doughnuts that the Mueller team lies constantly in their daily duties. Ask any trial attorney, people lie all the time under oath. Manafort deserves a slap on the wrist.
1
@Joe Brown Loosen that MAGA hat, it's cutting circulation. Manafort thought he could lie, manage the case, keep #45 in the loop, and eventually get pardoned. He was incorrect.
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@Joe Brown
So the onus is on "federal employees" or "law enforcement" because they "lie all the time" despite the illegality of Manafort's actions?
If Manafort had killed someone while serving the Trump campaign, you're suggesting he still shouldn't be punished because the prosecutors were "bad?"
Come on, man, listen to yourself.
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@Joe BrownPeople do not lie all the time,unless they work for trump!
19
Trump has only been involved in criminal activities for seven decades. Perhaps we should cut him slack for being the object of his father's tax scam when he was only three.
He wasn't indicted before he knows that with a lot of money and 'fixers' who operate outside of the law and coerce witnesses and clients and builders and workers and, etc, ... We shouldn't draw conclusions on the thousands of out-of-court settlements the Donald has been involved in. Or should we?
The only reason he has not been indicted is because he is a sitting POTUS. The reason so many criminals surround him is because he has been criminal for several decades.
Please indict and incarcerate these cancerous criminals.
225
@james DJT, like his father who was a questionable businessman and definite racist, spawned a son who is even less of businessman (unless lying, cheating, and refusing to pay as good business practice) and most definitely a racist. Moreover, the Kushners also spawn from an admitted criminal convicted of several felonies. The apples don't fall far from the trees and birds of a feather. If there were ever any families I would prefer not to have procreated, it's the Trumps and Kushners. So "very sad"...
3
Whatever Manafort knows is at the very heart of the mystery. He continues to lie, risking the remainder of his days in prison. It must be so significant that he guesses or has received a signal that Donald will pardon him as long as he stays mum. Most of us wouldn’t trust Donald to walk a pet worm, but I guess when you are desperate, any port in a storm as they say.
Given the general incompetence of the people involved in the pact, it is likely that Mueller has quite a bit of the evidence already. Time will tell.
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I try hard not to be a conspiracy theorist but I can't help but wonder. Mitch McConnell refused to hold a vote on Merrick Garland for the Supreme Court. McConnell also refused to go public with Obama about Russian interference in the election. Once Trump took office Mitch and the GOP started stacking the courts. The only major legislation they passed in the 2 years they had full control of our government was to pass the huge tax break for the super wealthy. Money and power. Manafort is not the only one who has conspired against America.
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@Sue Thompson
Its not a conspiracy if its openly admitted to, which is basically what they've done over the past 10 years
11
@Sue Thompson Yes, conspiracy to commit treason against the United States. The coup d'etat has already happened and Trump needs to be removed from office along with his two illegal Supreme Court picks and all the co-conspirators. Lock 'em up!
36
@Andre, who wrote your rules, you? Conspiracies can be openly admitted to, they can be quite out in the open. The verb conspire, both in its colloquial and its legal meaning has nothing to do with secrecy.
13
"He [Manafort] happens to be a very good person and it happens to be very sad what they've done to Paul Manafort," Donald Trump
In the Trump ethics code book, lying under oath to protect the boss is the most noble of character traits, especially if it involves selling your country out to a foreign country for future personal gain for the boss.
Michael Cohen, on the other hand, is a "rat" and " "desperate liar" for telling the truth, according to our President.
We are going to learn a lot more this year about the moral universe of Team Trump, who continue to lie about the Russian investigation and everything else on a regular basis.
And we are learning a lot about those in Congress, like Devon Nunes, who are clearly conspiring to cover up the investigation and other ongoing misdeeds of the Trump Administration.
So many "good people".
305
Manafort, like Trump, is a pathological liar. His multiple crimes deserve the harshest possible punishment. He should spend the rest of his life in jail. His long & profitable association with Russian oligarchs played into Putin's effort to promote Russian interests by manipulating our election in order to get an American President who would reverse the sanctions enacted under Obama.
Undoubtedly, Manafort has more than enough evidence of Trump's criminal activity to require impeachment, followed by indictment, probable conviction, & a government paid vacation in "Club Fed" for our illegitimate POTUS. If he had any conscience, Manafort would share this information with Mueller for the good of the nation. So, I'm not holding my breath awaiting his next version of what really happened.
121
@Doctor B - As liars go, Trump can lie with a straight face way better than Manafort. Look at how Manafort stumbled when asked about Trump's dealings with Russia. Trump is the master liar. Never stumbles. Never flinches.
5
The more details that dribble out during these legal proceedings, the clearer it is just how slimy this cast of characters is. I get the sense that Mueller knows much more about the snakes under these rocks.
80
As it increasingly becomes obvious that Trump surrounds himself with a large number of criminals, several of whom conspire against America, one can't help but look askew at Trump/GOP voters and wonder, what is so important about Trump's policies that would make you also essentially conspire against America?
368
@Koobface
Two answers:
Nothing but nothing is true, much less obvious, to them unless Fox "News" says it is.
He's not a big-word-using, white-person hating Democrat.
11
@Koobface because they see these conspiracies and lies as necessary to “save” their/Trump’s version of America, which is ruthless to the core, by overturning everything a legitimately elected black president and his party were able to accomplish during their terms. Because, obviously, in their minds, Democracy is for weaklings, and only an authoritarian strongman can beat back those evil doers who believe in equal rights and social justice for all. Because they are entitled to conspire, their “savior” Trump has told them so: Only he can fix it.
21
@Koobface You won't get an answer to this from an actual Trump supporter. This sort of question makes them angry; not at Trump for continually deceiving them, not at themselves for being gullible and allowing their worst impulses to get the better of them, but at you for asking. At you, for having critical thinking skills and lording it over them.
These people's brains can't be fixed, America needs a divorce from 40 percent of its voters.
16
Where there is smoke, there’s fire,
When Trump needs to sneak, Manafort’s for hire,
To gain access to billion$, did Trump conspire,
with an American adversary? The situation’s dire.
80