Manafort attempted to tamper with potential witnesses - U.S. special counsel

 

FILE PHOTO Paul Manafort, former campaign manager for U.S. President Donald Trump, departs after a hearing at U.S. District Court in Washington, DC, U.S., April 19, 2018. REUTERS/Brian Snyder/File Photo

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump's former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, who has been indicted by U.S. Special Counsel Robert Mueller, attempted to tamper with potential witnesses, Mueller said in a court filing on Monday.

 

Mueller, who is investigating possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia, asked the judge overseeing the case in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to revoke or revise an order releasing Manafort ahead of his trial.

 

Manafort was released to home confinement after his arraignment in October.

 

Mueller has indicted Manafort in federal courts in Virginia and Washington, D.C., with an array of allegations from money-laundering and failing to register as a foreign agent, to bank and tax fraud. Manafort has pleaded not guilty.

 

FBI Special Agent Brock Domin, in a declaration filed with Mueller's motion, said Manafort had attempted to call, text and send encrypted messages in February to two people from "The Hapsburg Group," a firm he worked with to promote the interests of Ukraine.

 

The FBI has documents and statements from the two people, as well as telephone records and documents recovered through a search of Manafort's iCloud account showing that Trump's former campaign manager attempted communication while he was out on bail, according to Domin.

 

The communications were "in an effort to influence their testimony and to otherwise conceal evidence," Domin wrote. "The investigation into this matter is ongoing."

 

Manafort is the most senior member of Trump's campaign to be indicted, though the charges do not relate to campaign activities.

 

Mueller urged Judge Amy Berman Jackson to "promptly" schedule a hearing on the whether to change Manafort's conditions of release, which could result in Manafort going to jail.

 

The Washington trial is set to start on Sept. 17.

 

Trump has denied collusion with Russia and called Mueller's investigation a "witch hunt."

 

(Reporting by Eric Beech; Additional reporting by Lisa Lambert; Editing by Sandra Maler)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-06-05

22 minutes ago, webfact said:

Mueller, who is investigating possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia

Given there is no evidence so far of any collusion, seems that Mueller is grasping at straws to keep his gravy train ( $17 million and counting ) rolling. Beats having to do a real job, IMO.

1 minute ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Given there is no evidence so far of any collusion, seems that Mueller is grasping at straws to keep his gravy train ( $17 million and counting ) rolling. Beats having to do a real job, IMO.

You have absolutely nothing to back-up your assertion that there was no collusion, other than the lack of leaks from the inquiry stating there is. 

 

Wait until the Inquiry report is issued.

 

Manafort is toast. 

 

He's out on bail ( a privilege the court can rescind).

 

Now caught interfering with witnesses he's almost certainly heading for the slammer while he awaits trial.

 

 

Trump meanwhile is desperately trying to distance himself from Manafort.

 

The truth will (despite Trump's best efforts) out.

5 minutes ago, Chomper Higgot said:

Manafort is toast. 

 

He's out on bail ( a privilege the court can rescind).

 

Now caught interfering with witnesses he's almost certainly heading for the slammer while he awaits trial.

 

From the OP.

 

37 minutes ago, webfact said:

attempted to tamper with potential witnesses

at·tempt

əˈtem(p)t/

verb

past tense: attempted; past participle: attempted

1. make an effort to achieve or complete (something, typically a difficult task or action).

   "she attempted a comeback in 1989"

Just now, janclaes47 said:

 

From the OP.

 

at·tempt

əˈtem(p)t/

verb

past tense: attempted; past participle: attempted

1. make an effort to achieve or complete (something, typically a difficult task or action).

   "she attempted a comeback in 1989"

Oh this has turned into an English lesson already.

 

Yes, we know what attempt means thank you.

 

 

23 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Given there is no evidence so far of any collusion, seems that Mueller is grasping at straws to keep his gravy train ( $17 million and counting ) rolling. Beats having to do a real job, IMO.

 

Benghazi: 2 1/2 years, finished, ZERO indictments or convictions.

 

Russia probe: A little over 1 year and still going, four former campaign associates charged (three guilty pleas), one lawyer sentenced, 13 Russians charged, 3 Russian companies charged. 

 

Yeah, just hate to see justice being served.

 

Not to mention the Whitewater investigation that lasted about 6 years and at a cost of around $80 million.

 

Oh, and this too...

 

Trump has spent more visiting Mar-a-Lago than Mueller has on Russia probe

 

 

Edited June 5, 20188 yr by Silurian

1 minute ago, Silurian said:

 

Benghazi: 2 1/2 years, finished, ZERO indictments or convictions.

 

Russia probe: A little over 1 year and still going, four former campaign associates charged (three guilty pleas), one lawyer sentenced, 13 Russians charged, 3 Russian companies charged. 

 

Yeah, just hate to see justice being served.

 

Re the Russia probe, nothing to do with collusion in the cases you mention.

 

Shameful that the Benghazi investigation was allowed to run so long. There should be a time limit. If nothing found in a year investigations should be closed, unless new information happens to emerge, in which case it could be opened again.

I believe the Ken Starr probe ran way too long and in the end found nothing related to the original case they were supposed to investigate. 

Seems that the tail is wagging the dog with these investigations.

23 minutes ago, Chomper Higgot said:

You have absolutely nothing to back-up your assertion that there was no collusion, other than the lack of leaks from the inquiry stating there is. 

 

Wait until the Inquiry report is issued.

 

I could have died of old age waiting for that report to come out. Without a time limit, they may still be looking in 3 years if the Dems win the house in November.

2 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Re the Russia probe, nothing to do with collusion in the cases you mention.

 

Shameful that the Benghazi investigation was allowed to run so long. There should be a time limit. If nothing found in a year investigations should be closed, unless new information happens to emerge, in which case it could be opened again.

I believe the Ken Starr probe ran way too long and in the end found nothing related to the original case they were supposed to investigate. 

Seems that the tail is wagging the dog with these investigations.

Seems to me you are desperate to announce the investigation over before the investigation itself publishes its report. 

 

 

Just now, thaibeachlovers said:

I could have died of old age waiting for that report to come out. Without a time limit, they may still be looking in 3 years if the Dems win the house in November.

The timing of the report is not determined by your impatience or thankfully by the publicised attempts of Trump to put an end to the investigation. 

 

If you truly believe your man to be innocent then you would welcome the most thorough investigation.

 

 

 

1 minute ago, Chomper Higgot said:

Seems to me you are desperate to announce the investigation over before the investigation itself publishes its report. 

 

 

LOL. Why would I be "desperate"?

Trump may have left office by the time this investigation publishes its report.

 

I'm guessing, but after the GOP retains the house in November, Trump fires waste of space Sessions and his replacement shuts the investigation down.

 

IMO, Mueller wants to keep the investigation going through the elections in November as publishing a report that finds no collusion will not help the Dems take the house.

Otherwise, if he does have some evidence, I expect him to release it as close as possible to the elections.

5 minutes ago, Chomper Higgot said:

The timing of the report is not determined by your impatience or thankfully by the publicised attempts of Trump to put an end to the investigation. 

 

If you truly believe your man to be innocent then you would welcome the most thorough investigation.

 

 

 

555555555555555

You continue to say that you know what I'm thinking, but you are not psychic. Why am I "impatient"?

As I believe there is no there, there, I'm not worried about the eventual outcome.

As I'm not an American taxpayer, I'm not paying for the investigation.

 

BTW, if Trump does sack Sessions after the elections ( not possible politically before ), I expect the Mueller probe to be terminated as soon as a replacement is installed. I do expect Sessions to be sacked whichever party wins the house in November. It would be crazy to allow him to remain.

40 minutes ago, Chomper Higgot said:

Manafort is toast. 

 

He's out on bail ( a privilege the court can rescind).

 

Now caught interfering with witnesses he's almost certainly heading for the slammer while he awaits trial.

 

 

Trump meanwhile is desperately trying to distance himself from Manafort.

 

The truth will (despite Trump's best efforts) out.

Correction, he's been accused of attempting to interfere. Not proven as yet.

35 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Re the Russia probe, nothing to do with collusion in the cases you mention.

 

Shameful that the Benghazi investigation was allowed to run so long. There should be a time limit. If nothing found in a year investigations should be closed, unless new information happens to emerge, in which case it could be opened again.

I believe the Ken Starr probe ran way too long and in the end found nothing related to the original case they were supposed to investigate. 

Seems that the tail is wagging the dog with these investigations.

 

Well, I personally didn't mention collusion, but whatever...

 

I am all for letting the Russia probe continue on as long as they keep finding dirty deeds and deals. Manafort attempting to tamper with potential witness just goes to show there is still more dirt to come. Manafort knows he is toast and is trying every means possible to circumvent justice.

 

The 911 Commission took 20 months to reach their conclusions. These things take time especially when they are complicated, have several players involved and cross country borders. In this age, everyone wants a quick twitter like response to justice. The "TL;DR" crowd is getting bored and wants to move on. So sad that there isn't the patience to let the wheels of justice move at their normal pace.

 

27 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Correction, he's been accused of attempting to interfere. Not proven as yet.

Let's see what the court makes of that.

 

You mistakenly believe that the prosecutors have to prove their accusation of witness tampering to convoke the court to rescind Manafort's bail. This is not so, the prosecutors need only provide the judge with evidence of Manafort tampering with witnesses and the judge can then rescind the 'privilege' of bail granted to Manafort. 

 

[Edit] That's not to say the FBI would not press charges against Manafort for witness tampering, itself a crime, witness tampering during a Federal investigation = Federal crime.

In which case, you are correct a charge of witness tampering brought as a criminal prosecution would need to be proven in court before a jury. 

 

This is however not what the FBI have done (yet), they are presenting the court with affidavits regarding alleged witness tampering and asking the court to rescind Manafort's bail privilege. 

 

He's toast.

Edited June 5, 20188 yr by Chomper Higgot

2 hours ago, janclaes47 said:

 

From the OP.

 

at·tempt

əˈtem(p)t/

verb

past tense: attempted; past participle: attempted

1. make an effort to achieve or complete (something, typically a difficult task or action).

   "she attempted a comeback in 1989"

Quite so, like ... attempted rape, attempted robbery, attempted murder and so on... I got it.

Well done reporters. You managed to insert Trump's name 6 times into the piece, even though it has nothing to do with him.

3 hours ago, Chomper Higgot said:

Trump meanwhile is desperately trying to distance himself from Manafort.

Yes, until he issues the pardon and then once again everything in the garden will be rosy. 

1 hour ago, sjbrownderby said:

Yes, until he issues the pardon and then once again everything in the garden will be rosy. 

If Trump does issue a Pardon relating to any prosecutions arising from Mueller’s investigations it will be for himself.

 

If he believes he can issue a pardon for himself he has no need of pardoning anyone else.

5 hours ago, janclaes47 said:

 

From the OP.

 

6 hours ago, webfact said:

attempted to tamper with potential witnesses

at·tempt

əˈtem(p)t/

verb

past tense: attempted; past participle: attempted

1. make an effort to achieve or complete (something, typically a difficult task or action).

   "she attempted a comeback in 1989"

 

Yeah, just try to attempt to rob a bank and fail. Let's see if they not charge you since you didn't succeed.

 

Edited June 5, 20188 yr by Silurian

5 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

LOL. Why would I be "desperate"?

Trump may have left office by the time this investigation publishes its report.

 

I'm guessing, but after the GOP retains the house in November, Trump fires waste of space Sessions and his replacement shuts the investigation down.

 

IMO, Mueller wants to keep the investigation going through the elections in November as publishing a report that finds no collusion will not help the Dems take the house.

Otherwise, if he does have some evidence, I expect him to release it as close as possible to the elections.

Why would a republican be trying to hurt the republicans?

1 minute ago, stevenl said:

Why would a republican be trying to hurt the republicans?

Don't you know Muller's a closet Dem? This according to the stable genius clown so picked up by all his base supporters.

8 hours ago, janclaes47 said:

 

From the OP.

 

at·tempt

əˈtem(p)t/

verb

past tense: attempted; past participle: attempted

1. make an effort to achieve or complete (something, typically a difficult task or action).

   "she attempted a comeback in 1989"

What's your point?

 

I attempted  to have a dump 10 minutes ago; past participle: attempted 

1.       make an effort to achieve or complete (something, typically a difficult task or action).

          "he attempted a dump at 1940 hrs"

 

So are you complaining that the word attempted is in the past therefore there is no issue or that Manafort only "attempted" to interfere with witnesses. As one member said above if you Attempted to rob a bank last week you would go to jail for 'attempted robbery'. So once again, what is your point?

11 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

keep his gravy train ( $17 million and counting ) rolling

Equivalent to Trump's trips to Mar-A-Lago for 5 days at $3.6 million per day.

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2017/apr/18/center-american-progress-action-fund/how-much-do-donald-trumps-trips-mar-lago-cost/

I believe Trump has stayed at Mar-A-Lago for (to date and counting) 39 days, not to mention other Trump golf course resorts.

Trump has the bigger gravy train, especially since he personally benefits from government payments for stays at his resorts.

Edited June 5, 20188 yr by Srikcir
msp

18 hours ago, janclaes47 said:

 

From the OP.

 

at·tempt

əˈtem(p)t/

verb

past tense: attempted; past participle: attempted

1. make an effort to achieve or complete (something, typically a difficult task or action).

   "she attempted a comeback in 1989"

18 U.S.C. Section 1512(b):

(b)Whoever knowingly uses intimidation, threatens, or corruptly persuades another person, or attempts to do so, or engages in misleading conduct toward another person, with intent to—

(1) influence, delay, or prevent the testimony of any person in an official proceeding;
…shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 20 years, or both.

15 hours ago, Chomper Higgot said:

If he believes he can issue a pardon for himself he has no need of pardoning anyone else.

 Many of the charges do not relate directly to Trump but were discovered as a result of Mueller's investigations. He has already pardoned a number of people thus sending out the message that a pardon is possible for those currently under investigation and indictment. And...........Newt Gingrich, one of Trump's most staunch supporters said, "If a president was dumb enough to pardon himself, that would be such an arrogant statement of power that the House would probably impeach him in a week and the Senate would convict him"

On 6/5/2018 at 3:45 PM, sjbrownderby said:

Yes, until he issues the pardon and then once again everything in the garden will be rosy. 

Actually not. If he issues a pardon, then Manafort no longer has grounds to invoke the fifth amendment.

13 hours ago, bristolboy said:

Actually not. If he issues a pardon, then Manafort no longer has grounds to invoke the fifth amendment.

That would depend very much on when the pardon is issued. 

The orange buffoon must go!!!!

Impeach 45!!!!