Lots of discussion again about Manafort being pardoned because Trump hasn't "taken it off the table." No, he hasn't, but Mueller has:
“The guilty plea is 175 pages long. In my career, I have never seen one like this. It was so carefully crafted by Bob Mueller and signed by Paul Manafort, that at the time he pleaded guilty to the charges he was indicted for — which was basically bank fraud, money laundering, and some form of commercial bribery of foreign officials in federal court. He also pleaded guilty to uncharged state crimes in New Jersey, in Virginia and in California.”Checkmate. And, of course, Mueller could still be prosecuted for obstruction of justice or for lying to investigators, which Trump could pardon, over and over and over. The fact Trump hasn't pardoned Manafort yet sort of mitigates against that pardon/armageddon scenario.
He added, “Why did they do that? To make it pardon proof so if President Trump, which he can do, does pardon him for the federal crimes the state prosecutors in those states already have his guilty plea.”
“Mueller has played by the book, no leaks no lies that we know of,” he concluded.
I hope prosecutors in all of those states would immediately file charges if he were pardoned just on the basis of his sheer, arrogant sense of entitlement to commit crimes and get away with them. I really hope his lawyers and those on the Trump team that colluded on the basis of a "defense pact" when, or so I've heard, Manafort had waved any defense so there couldn't be a defense pact, are disbarred at the least and prosecuted if they broke the law. I've never been so disgusted in this way before.
ReplyDeleteManafort has plead guilty in those states, if Napolitano is right. That means they held off, in cooperation, but will immediately enforce their claims if the federal charges disappear. Manafort is going to be in jail for the foreseeable future. Period.
ReplyDelete