Manafort juror's message to Trump: Pardon would be 'big mistake'

By Warren Strobel and Nathan Layne

 

Paula Duncan, a Trump supporter who was one of the jurors who convicted former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort on 8 of the 18 federal crimes that he was charged with in his first trial, speaks to Reuters about the jury's deliberations in an interview in Washington, U.S., August 24, 2018. REUTERS/Jim Bourg

 

(Reuters) - A juror who voted to convict Paul Manafort and who is also a supporter of U.S. President Donald Trump has some advice for Trump if he is considering whether to pardon his former campaign chairman: don't do it.

 

Paula Duncan is so far the only juror to speak out since Manafort was found guilty of 8 out of 18 counts of financial wrongdoing on Tuesday.

 

"He should absolutely not pardon him. I think it would be a big mistake," Duncan, 54, told Reuters after an on-camera interview on Friday, adding that she believed it would be a mistake from both a moral and a political perspective.

 

"If President Trump pardons him without him doing any time at all it would look like President Trump was saying it's OK that you broke the law. It's not OK to break the law."

 

Trump weighed in on Manafort's plight while the jury was still in deliberations, calling the tax and bank fraud case against him "very sad" and lauding him as a "very good person."

 

Those comments, along with tweets following the verdict, have heightened speculation that Trump may look to pardon Manafort. When asked directly about the prospect, Trump has not ruled it out.

 

While Duncan feels Manafort should pay for his crimes, she said she believes he was targeted by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who is leading a probe into Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. election.

 

"I don't think that Mr. Manafort would have been on trial had not the Special Counsel been looking for information on Russian collusion in the last election," Duncan said in the TV interview.

 

"He's still guilty ... and he now needs to pay for the laws he broke."

 

Duncan said that she and 10 other jurors wanted to convict Manafort on all 18 counts of tax and bank fraud and failing to declare his foreign bank accounts that he faced in the trial. It was one holdout who caused the jury to hang on 10 of the 18 counts after nearly four days of deliberations, she said.

 

"We had some people that were very wrapped up in it and really didn't want to stop deliberating," Duncan said. "In the end we knew we were never going to change her mind."

 

Even with instructions to avoid media coverage of the trial, Duncan said she and her fellow jurors would had to have been "brain dead to not know" the scrutiny on the case and said they were "all very overwhelmed with the importance of our job."

 

And even though she believes Manafort is guilty, Duncan said she agrees with Trump that it was time to shut down Mueller's probe.

"I just think the whole thing is a waste of taxpayer money and a way to harass the president," she said.

 

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-08-25

 

 

Talking about a waste of taxpayer money, here is a way to get it all back:

 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trump-insiders-could-offer-‘holy-grail’-of-long-hidden-finances/ar-BBMoD7i?ocid=spartandhp

 

and jail Trump for a very long time.

6 minutes ago, rooster59 said:

"I don't think that Mr. Manafort would have been on trial had not the Special Counsel been looking for information on Russian collusion in the last election," Duncan said in the TV interview.

 

"He's still guilty ... and he now needs to pay for the laws he broke."

 

And even though she believes Manafort is guilty, Duncan said she agrees with Trump that it was time to shut down Mueller's probe.  "I just think the whole thing is a waste of taxpayer money and a way to harass the president," she said.

The thinking of the Trump supporter: 

Manafort is guilty and needs to pay for the crimes he committed. 

He was only caught because of the Mueller investigation. 

The Mueller investigation needs to be shut down.

 

There's no hope for some.

Even though she voted with the majority, this Paula Duncan should be prosecuted for perjury and fraud.  She concealed her strong pro-Trump support during voir dire and on the jury panel questionnaire forms in order to get on the jury and earn her 15 minutes of fame.

7 minutes ago, zaphod reborn said:

Even though she voted with the majority, this Paula Duncan should be prosecuted for perjury and fraud.  She concealed her strong pro-Trump support during voir dire and on the jury panel questionnaire forms in order to get on the jury and earn her 15 minutes of fame.

I think the ‘Hold-Out’ juror is more deserving of examination, and I have no doubt that is happening.

12 minutes ago, zaphod reborn said:

Even though she voted with the majority, this Paula Duncan should be prosecuted for perjury and fraud.  She concealed her strong pro-Trump support during voir dire and on the jury panel questionnaire forms in order to get on the jury and earn her 15 minutes of fame.

Do we know that she concealed it? I haven't seen a report about that anywhere. But I could have missed it.

1 hour ago, rooster59 said:

While Duncan feels Manafort should pay for his crimes, she said she believes he was targeted by Special Counsel Robert Mueller

 

Commit crimes and get targeted by law enforcement... how unfair!

 

Prospective jurors had to fill out a questionaire...

 

You can review it here:

 

https://edition.cnn.com/2018/07/24/politics/read-paul-manafort-jury-questionnaire/index.html

 

Nothing about political affiliations, and that is probably prohibited.

 

Maybe section 24 re: "publicity"?

 

I found her interview to seem honest and forthright; while her arguments a bit nonsensical/disjointed.

 

Manafort could turn out to be Trump's William Calley Jr.

2 years house arrest served of a life sentence for My Lai.

Can't wait till Trumps re-election so I can watch you <deleted> squirm!

 

#MAGA

2 minutes ago, kbelyeu said:

Can't wait till Trumps re-election so I can watch you <deleted> squirm!

 

#MAGA

and most of the rest of the world and many Americans hope he goes back in to his private swamp and never reappears 

6 hours ago, rooster59 said:

"I just think the whole thing is a waste of taxpayer money and a way to harass the president," she said.

I think that it is money well spent, to give the president a taste of his very own behavior.

Trump supporters..........How did that song go? “There are none so blind as those that will not see...”

1 hour ago, kbelyeu said:

Can't wait till Trumps re-election so I can watch you <deleted> squirm!

 

#MAGA

#MyAttorneyGotArrested

7 hours ago, bristolboy said:

Do we know that she concealed it? I haven't seen a report about that anywhere. But I could have missed it.

Her first interview was over the phone with Ken Dilanian of MSNBC.  It's in his report of the phone interview.

Quote

During jury selection, she kept her political leanings to herself, she said. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/crime-courts/manafort-juror-paula-duncan-manafort-guilty-mueller-probe-witch-hunt-n903201 

She only made it through jury selection "because she was vague about her political leanings which is probably one reason she was allowed on the jury."  I'm sure she was warned not to say that again. (it's at 0.27 of the video).

 

 

 

 

6 hours ago, mtls2005 said:

 

Prospective jurors had to fill out a questionaire...

 

You can review it here:

 

https://edition.cnn.com/2018/07/24/politics/read-paul-manafort-jury-questionnaire/index.html

 

Nothing about political affiliations, and that is probably prohibited.

 

Maybe section 24 re: "publicity"?

 

I found her interview to seem honest and forthright; while her arguments a bit nonsensical/disjointed.

 

 question #26 asks about mental conditions , by not disclosing her support for Trump .........

It shouldn’t matter if she voted for trump or Hillary she reacted to the evidence good for her the real question is how will she feel about trump when his misdeeds and crimes are exposed

# my cfo turned states witness lol

Saying that it would be a big mistake, is hardly advice that Trump would be likely to take. He makes those every day.

11 hours ago, FritsSikkink said:

Talking about a waste of taxpayer money, here is a way to get it all back:

 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trump-insiders-could-offer-‘holy-grail’-of-long-hidden-finances/ar-BBMoD7i?ocid=spartandhp

 

and jail Trump for a very long time.

Execution is a much cheaper option and far more deserving 

What is she going to say when the evidence against the President is as strong as the evidence that she reviewed during the Manafort trial? 

 

What she doesn't seem to realise is that Trump has to pardon Manafort to stop him from revealing Trump's involvement with the Russian interference in the US election ... if Manafort flips the US will be shocked by how deep Trump's involvement went.

 

The Benghazi and Clinton Whitewater investigations went on for several years, and a great deal longer than the Mueller probe has to date ... and the Mueller probe is bringing out indictment after indictment, guilty plea after guilty plea ... so no reason to prematurely end it ... what a strange woman?

11 hours ago, zaphod reborn said:

Even though she voted with the majority, this Paula Duncan should be prosecuted for perjury and fraud.  She concealed her strong pro-Trump support during voir dire and on the jury panel questionnaire forms in order to get on the jury and earn her 15 minutes of fame.

Maybe Trump will pardon her...

In the UK it is a criminal offence for a juror to disclose anything about the deliberations of a trial even after the trial has ended.

 

Instructions to jurors:

Quote

After the trial you must not talk about what happened in the deliberation room, even with family members. You can talk about what happened in the courtroom.

 

It just does not happen in the UK, Jurors looking for there 15 minutes of fame.

15 hours ago, FritsSikkink said:

Talking about a waste of taxpayer money, here is a way to get it all back:

 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trump-insiders-could-offer-‘holy-grail’-of-long-hidden-finances/ar-BBMoD7i?ocid=spartandhp

 

and jail Trump for a very long time.

Good luck with that  

Troll post and replies removed.  

 

Upon a bit of reflection...

 

This juror revealed "issues" which have probably affected Manafort's strategies going forward:

 

She is about as pro-Defendant as a juror could have been, and she along with 10 others voted to convict on all 18 counts.

 

Other than one banjo-picker, Manafort would have been convicted on all 18 counts. This sends a message.

 

He's not going to get a more favorable jury in the DC trial.

 

No clue if the witness tampering charges will be prosecuted? I think they will be.

 

One assumes that he will be indicted by Mueller for conspiracy (with the Russians) before the end of the year.

 

He'll be spending a lot of time in jail/prison.

 

He's burning through cash for legal fees, millions of dollars (rubles) - no clue who's paying those, or how far they're willing to go?

 

A pardon may be a way to avoid jail but that will put him in another frying pan: he'll be forced to testify about ANYTHING without the option of the 5th. If he declines he will go to jail for contempt.

 

Assuming he's still in office, tRUmp will have to wait until mid-January 2021 to issue a pardon for Manafort (and Don Jr., Eric, Ivanka, Stoney, and a couple of dozen others). 

 

I would assume various states/cities are looking at Manafort for tax crimes?

 

 

Barring some outside influence, he really only has one option - hopefully he's on a suicide watch - (the Russians could murder him in jail and make it look like the "deep state" did it I guess?) - and that is to try and cooperate ("I know all the 'flippers' ".).

 

My sense is that he fears the Russians more than jail, Mueller or tRUmp - given what he knows about certain individuals and their ops in the U.S., and that they can get to his family quite easily - so may be forced to spend the rest of his life in prison. One assumes the Bratva will protect him in prison. Maybe, if he's still alive in 10 or 15 years he'll get a pardon from then President Stan V. Putin?

 

 

 

 

 

17 hours ago, kbelyeu said:

Can't wait till Trumps re-election so I can watch you <deleted> squirm!

 

#MAGA

Then you got a serious problem as it is NEVER going to happen.

23 hours ago, zaphod reborn said:

Even though she voted with the majority, this Paula Duncan should be prosecuted for perjury and fraud.  She concealed her strong pro-Trump support during voir dire and on the jury panel questionnaire forms in order to get on the jury and earn her 15 minutes of fame.

LOCK HER UP!!!!

3 hours ago, FritsSikkink said:

Then you got a serious problem as it is NEVER going to happen.

hahaha.. funny you said the exact same thing when Trump was running against Hillary.

 

#MAGA

7 minutes ago, kbelyeu said:

hahaha.. funny you said the exact same thing when Trump was running against Hillary.

 

#MAGA

My Attorney Got Arrested