Trump ex-campaign head Manafort changes mind, cooperates in Russia probe

[rooster59]

Trump ex-campaign head Manafort changes mind, cooperates in Russia probe

By Nathan Layne, Jonathan Landay and Karen Freifeld

 

FILE PHOTO: Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump gives a thumbs up as his campaign chairman Paul Manafort looks on during Trump's walk through at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, U.S., July 21, 2016. REUTERS/Rick Wilking/File Photo

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Donald Trump's former campaign chairman Paul Manafort will cooperate with the federal investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election, a dramatic turnaround in a probe that the U.S. president derides as a political witch hunt.

 

After months of refusing to assist Special Counsel Robert Mueller's inquiry into Russian interference and possible coordination between Trump campaign members and Moscow, Manafort finally took a plea deal on Friday and agreed to cooperate in return for reduced charges. Trump had previously praised Manafort in an Aug. 22 Twitter post as "a brave man" for his refusal to cooperate with the inquiry.

 

It is unclear what information Manafort, a longtime Republican political consultant who ran the campaign as it took off in mid-2016, could offer prosecutors but his cooperation might bring Trump, his family and associates under closer scrutiny.

 

The White House distanced Trump from the man who helped get him elected in November 2016 against the odds in a bitterly contested campaign in which he defeated Democrat Hillary Clinton.

 

"This had absolutely nothing to do with the president or his victorious 2016 presidential campaign," White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said in a statement. "It is totally unrelated."

 

Cornell University professor of law Jens David Ohlin said it was hard to predict what information a cooperation agreement will yield but that Manafort's deal could be a serious problem for Trump.

 

"If Manafort is willing to give Mueller information about Trump's contacts with Russia, whether the contacts were direct or indirect, then this really is a disaster for Trump and his associates."

 

Manafort is the fifth person linked to Trump to plead guilty to criminal charges. The others are his former longtime personal lawyer Michael Cohen, former campaign foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos, Trump's first national security adviser Michael Flynn and Manafort's business protege Rick Gates, who also worked on the 2016 campaign.

 

Manafort, 69, pleaded guilty in a federal court in Washington on Friday to conspiracy against the United States - a charge that includes a range of conduct from money laundering to unregistered lobbying - and conspiracy to obstruct justice for his attempts to tamper with witnesses in his case. The prosecution dropped five other counts.

 

The plea, coming on the heels of a conviction in a separate case last month, concludes a steep fall from grace for a multi-millionaire who was often at Trump's side as he took U.S. politics by storm in 2016. The investigation has cast a shadow over the president as the leader of the Republican Party going into the Nov. 6 congressional elections that will determine whether or not Republicans keep control of Congress.

 

Mueller’s team told the court that Manafort had previewed what information he could offer, leading to the deal. The plea agreement requires him to cooperate completely with the government, including giving interviews without his attorney present and testifying before any grand juries or at any trials.

 

Manafort is facing up to 10 years in prison on the two charges in Washington alone, and another eight to 10 years on a conviction in Virginia in August on tax and bank fraud charges.

 

But depending on the extent of his cooperation and the degree to which prosecutors argue for reducing his sentence, Manafort could end up getting anywhere from a year to five years in prison, according to Mark Allenbaugh, a federal sentencing expert. “It would not surprise me if he got time served for both cases,” Allenbaugh said.

 

Manafort was convicted last month in Virginia on charges that pre-dated his stint on the Trump campaign and involved his work with pro-Russian politicians in Ukraine. The jury found that he hid from U.S. tax authorities $16 million he earned as a political consultant in Ukraine to fund an opulent lifestyle and lied to banks to secure $20 million in loans.

 

TURNAROUND

 

In court on Friday, Manafort stood stock still before the judge, answering her questions with single words in a low tone, or sat at the defence table. He sat straight or leaned his chin on his right hand throughout a lengthy recital of the charges to which he pleaded guilty.

 

Manafort made millions of dollars working in Ukraine before taking an unpaid position with Trump's campaign for five months.

 

Rudy Giuliani, the former New York City mayor who is representing Trump in the Russia probe, said Manafort cooperating with Mueller was not a problem for his client.

 

"He knows nothing harmful to the president and the plea is the best evidence of that," Giuliani told Reuters.

 

Manafort was present at a June 2016 Trump Tower meeting with a Russian lawyer at which his son expected to receive possibly damaging information about election opponent Clinton. Trump's critics have pointed to the meeting as evidence of the collusion with Russia that Trump denies.

 

Later in 2016, Manafort oversaw the Republican National Convention that nominated Trump for the presidency. During the convention, the party’s platform on Ukraine was altered in a way that made it more in line with Russian interests.

 

Trump has the power to issue a presidential pardon for Manafort on federal charges. The president has not said whether he would do so.

 

Senator Mark Warner, the leading Democrat on the Senate intelligence committee, said any attempt by Trump to pardon Manafort "would be a gross abuse of power and require immediate action by Congress."

 

Prosecutor Andrew Weissmann walked the court through Manafort’s efforts over a decade to influence power brokers in Washington without acknowledging that he was being paid tens of millions of dollars from pro-Russian politicians in Ukraine, a disclosure required by law.

 

“Mr. Manafort engaged in a variety of criminal schemes. He did so knowingly, intentionally and willfully,” Weissmann said.

 

The plea agreement requires Manafort to forfeit millions of dollars worth of real estate, including a mansion in the Hamptons, a Brooklyn brownstone and an apartment in Trump Tower in Manhattan.

 

“He’s accepted responsibility," Manafort's lawyer Kevin Downing said outside the courthouse." He wanted to make sure that his family was able to remain safe and live a good life."

 

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-09-15

[Somtamnication]

And the countdown begins for Pence for president. Oh my God! I feel so bad for the 'merkins!

[Samui Bodoh]

"...If Manafort is willing to give Mueller information about Trump's contacts with Russia, whether the contacts were direct or indirect, then this really is a disaster for Trump and his associates..."

 

This is really the crux of the matter; by all accounts, Trump has had business dealings with Russians for many years. Remember that American banks essentially stopped lending to Trump in 2008; where has all his money come from since then? By all accounts, it has been Russian money. Further, Manafort has been a political operative in Ukraine/Russia for a decade or more, and thus will know where the proverbial bodies are buried, where the money came from and where it went, and who did what to whom.

 

This may well be the lynchpin that ties everything together; Russian influence on Trump through the use of cash in his businesses', followed up by 'favours' received to keep it all quiet.

 

Given all the public information (and Mueller certainly knows one hell of a lot more than is in the public), Trump has had extensive ties to Russians/Russian money for many years. And, it is ludicrous to believe that all that money was provided for free. The extent of Trump's ties to Russia/Putin are coming unglued and into the open, and I sincerely hope that it leads to the end of Trump sooner rather than later.

 

I have said it before and (sadly) need to say it again;

 

Donald Trump is an ever-expanding cloud of toxic waste that defiles everything ti touches.

 

God help us all.

 

 

[mtls2005]

I assume he will have to forfeit his alligator-upholstered broomstick?

 

The auction of his seized assets should make for awesome late-night fodder?

 

Maybe he can host the next season of DC Flippers?

 

https://www.hgtv.com/shows/dc-flippers

 

https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/6183591/422/united-states-v-manafort/

 

https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/6183591/423/united-states-v-manafort/

 

For the record, he pled guilty to crimes up to and including April 4, 2018, so put that old argument away.

 

 

Roger Stone will probably OD, or go out in a blaze of glory, after hearing this news.

 

 

[Chomper Higgot]

1 hour ago, Somtamnication said:

And the countdown begins for Pence for president. Oh my God! I feel so bad for the 'merkins!

Pence has not been called to give evidence to Mueller, he may himself be a target of the investigation.

 

He was chosen by Manafort as Trump’s running mate and he was given written warnings that Flynn was an active Russian agent but appointed him anyway.

 

Manafort is singing, one of his sweet melodies will include an explanation of why he went to extraordinary lengths to pick Pence as Trump’s running mate.

 

Illiberals get your denial glasses on the truth will (despite Trump’s best efforts) out!

 

[mtls2005]

The author of this piece has been following swamp critter Manafort for a long time...

 

What Paul Manafort Knows

 

But the chronology contained in the document filed this morning takes us right up to the eve of Manafort joining the Trump campaign, and then leaves the reader bursting with curiosity about what comes next.

 

Perhaps not even Mueller fully knows what Manafort has to offer about his time in the Trump campaign. 

 

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/09/paul-manafort-cooperating-mueller/570364/

[bendejo]

DT has this thing where the more someone ingratiates themselves with him the worse he treats them, on a person-to-person basis.

I guess even the most dutiful have figured that out, and they know when their arse is hung out to dry the boss is not going to know them.  Of course, by the time you read this sentence El Naranjo Grande may have pardoned him.

DT is really funny when he does it sometimes, like there could be a picture of him chatting with someone "he never met."

 

 

 

[Bluespunk]

3 hours ago, rooster59 said:

Trump ex-campaign head Manafort changes mind, cooperates in Russia probe

 

Uh oh, duck y’all, a twitter rage storm is coming

[alfalfa19]

the noose is slowly tightening around the Orange Ogre's neck.   

[zaphod reborn]

Mueller got Stone, and now he has Don Jr. and Jared Kushner.  Manafort will testify that US$20 million was transferred after the June 2016 Trump Tower meeting from Russian oligarch, Aras Agaralov, to the Trump Org execs, immediaely after the meeting and immediately after Trump won the general election.  In exchange, Manafort might just do 5 years in prison.  Manafort couldn't wait until it was politically expedient for Trump to pardon him.  It will be interesting to see if Manafort knows how the $20 million was distributed by Trump Org.

 

Now, it looks like 2 other Trump Tower meeting attendees will be indicted, Don Jr. and Kushner.  Manafort, who also attended the meeting, has pleaded guilty.  Don Jr. already perjured himself when he testified about the meeting.  This is the end game for Trump.  

 

Trump set up his campaign just like a criminal syndicate.  Trump, as the head of the crime family, was never actually involved in the conspiracy to defraud the election process and bribery scandal.  This was assigned out to the flunkies like Stone, Manafort, Don Jr. and Kushner  in order to insulate Trump.  Trump only ran into problems for his other scandals such as Cohen's hush money payouts, because Trump was too cheap to pony up money for a real campaign finance law attorney. 

[zaphod reborn]

2 hours ago, mtls2005 said:

The author of this piece has been following swamp critter Manafort for a long time...

 

What Paul Manafort Knows

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/09/paul-manafort-cooperating-mueller/570364/

Quote

I have never invested much significance in the Trump Tower meeting on June 9, 2016

 

What the author of this article doesn't know:

 

US$20 million was transferred by Russian oligarch, Aras Agaralov, to NY and NJ banks per SAR reports from the banks.  The recipients were 2 "unidentified" meeting attendees,  The money was funneled through dozens of offshore bank accounts and LLCs that had been dormant for years.  The transfers were made immediately after the meeting, and immediately after Trump won the general election.  The author knows a liitle about Oleg and Stone, but dropped the ball on the most recent development in the Russia scandal.      

[Tug]

It’s almost like they are falling over each other to squeal like the little swamp piggies they are lol probably jockeying for less jail time oh I feel a Russian influence gig coming on lol.I think that by the time the smoke clears we Americans will be very embarrassed indeed 

[Redline]

5 hours ago, Samui Bodoh said:

"...If Manafort is willing to give Mueller information about Trump's contacts with Russia, whether the contacts were direct or indirect, then this really is a disaster for Trump and his associates..."

 

This is really the crux of the matter; by all accounts, Trump has had business dealings with Russians for many years. Remember that American banks essentially stopped lending to Trump in 2008; where has all his money come from since then? By all accounts, it has been Russian money. Further, Manafort has been a political operative in Ukraine/Russia for a decade or more, and thus will know where the proverbial bodies are buried, where the money came from and where it went, and who did what to whom.

 

This may well be the lynchpin that ties everything together; Russian influence on Trump through the use of cash in his businesses', followed up by 'favours' received to keep it all quiet.

 

Given all the public information (and Mueller certainly knows one hell of a lot more than is in the public), Trump has had extensive ties to Russians/Russian money for many years. And, it is ludicrous to believe that all that money was provided for free. The extent of Trump's ties to Russia/Putin are coming unglued and into the open, and I sincerely hope that it leads to the end of Trump sooner rather than later.

 

I have said it before and (sadly) need to say it again;

 

Donald Trump is an ever-expanding cloud of toxic waste that defiles everything ti touches.

 

God help us all.

 

 

Let us not forget the New York investigations ?

[Chomper Higgot]

8 minutes ago, Redline said:

Let us not forget the New York investigations ?

And Avenatti with Stormy Danniels!!!

 

‘Stormy Does Donald’ and no despite over the body count!

[DM07]

tick...toc...tick...toc...tick...

[mtls2005]

3 minutes ago, DM07 said:

tick...toc...tick...toc...tick...

 

drip...drip...drip

 

The sound of the orange paint dripping off his face as he must be absolutely sweating rubles.

 

 

[Jingthing]

10 minutes ago, mtls2005 said:

 

drip...drip...drip

 

The sound of the orange paint dripping off his face as he must be absolutely sweating rubles.

 

 

Yeah and you know that must be true by looking at the presidential twitter troll account.

Not one word yet about the Manafort plea deal!

Instead he's still ranting about Puerto Rico and now even about Obama's ancient "57 states" brain fart. 

Talk about FEAR!

 

 

[Samui Bodoh]

36 minutes ago, Redline said:

Let us not forget the New York investigations ?

I think you and @Chomper Higgotmake excellent points.

 

I haven't forgotten either Stormy Daniels or the case in SDNY. Or, any others. And, I will have a beaming grin if/when they come to fruition.

 

However, I still think that the Russian angle is by far the most important, in terms of both the law and politics. In a legal sense, I don't want to see Trump charged with... US tax evasion or some other such crime, I want to see him charged, somehow, directly with the Russians. It might be money-laundering, it might be influence-peddling, it might be anything, but as long as there is direct legal ties between Trump and the Russians (either the Russian Mob, the Russian Oligarchs or Putin himself), I will be happy.

 

In a political sense, I do think it is important that the Mueller investigation be widely accepted, and that means by Republicans too. Trump has been saying for a long time :No Collusion!" and "Witch hunt!" and that the investigation isn't looking at the campaign and/or Trump in government. The only way that Republican supporters will accept it is if there a tight political case tying Trump to the Russians.

 

All over the world, people have had to put up with that arrogant pig Putin. I want to see Trump go down, then I want to see a pissed off American get a little of its own back against him; I will enjoy that.

 

 

[mtls2005]

11 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

Instead he's still ranting about Puerto Rico and now even about Obama's ancient "57 states" brain fart. 

 

Kellyanne's husband absolutely torched Trump on that Obama tweet...

 

 

 

He called him a stupid liar, but with words which Trump will probably think are compliments.

 

I suspect he authored the enmonous, anoumoush, oh that oped in the Failing New York Times, as dictated by his wife.

 

 

[Chomper Higgot]

27 minutes ago, Samui Bodoh said:

I think you and @Chomper Higgotmake excellent points.

 

I haven't forgotten either Stormy Daniels or the case in SDNY. Or, any others. And, I will have a beaming grin if/when they come to fruition.

 

However, I still think that the Russian angle is by far the most important, in terms of both the law and politics. In a legal sense, I don't want to see Trump charged with... US tax evasion or some other such crime, I want to see him charged, somehow, directly with the Russians. It might be money-laundering, it might be influence-peddling, it might be anything, but as long as there is direct legal ties between Trump and the Russians (either the Russian Mob, the Russian Oligarchs or Putin himself), I will be happy.

 

In a political sense, I do think it is important that the Mueller investigation be widely accepted, and that means by Republicans too. Trump has been saying for a long time :No Collusion!" and "Witch hunt!" and that the investigation isn't looking at the campaign and/or Trump in government. The only way that Republican supporters will accept it is if there a tight political case tying Trump to the Russians.

 

All over the world, people have had to put up with that arrogant pig Putin. I want to see Trump go down, then I want to see a pissed off American get a little of its own back against him; I will enjoy that.

 

 

Spot on.

[GinBoy2]

Thing is ya never can tell where special investigations end up.

Remember Clinton started off with Whitewater and ended up with Monica Lewinsky!

Who knows if Manafort has dirt on Trump, or maybe one of his children, associates, impossible to tell.

The one thing about Manafort, it's a pretty tight lipped investigation, not a lot of leaks, opposed as I seem to recall of the Starr investigation against Clinton.

With Trump himself, I'm more inclined to think it just gonna be sleeze, rather than criminality, but who knows.

Of course the same GOP that decried Clintons immorality, now seems perfectly OK with paying off porn stars for affairs, but different times I guess

[TVGerry]

8 hours ago, Somtamnication said:

And the countdown begins for Pence for president. Oh my God! I feel so bad for the 'merkins!

A sad world we live in where the sitting president is so bad, we're actually rooting for someone like Pence to take over...

[Jingthing]

A sad world we live in where the sitting president is so bad, we're actually rooting for someone like Pence to take over...

True but Pence with his funeral director affect and checked by a democratic controlled congress is much closer to normalcy and also excellent chance of changing the potus in 2020.

 

I reckon Pence would also face a strong primary challenge as well as his legitimacy being elected with "trump" would be soiled.

 

Sent from my Lenovo A7020a48 using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

 

 

 

[CharlieH]

Inflammatory remark removed.

[mcambl61]

4 hours ago, TVGerry said:

A sad world we live in where the sitting president is so bad, we're actually rooting for someone like Pence to take over...

we?

 

 very arrogant assumption, but predictable

[mcambl61]

10 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

True but Pence with his funeral director affect and checked by a democratic controlled congress is much closer to normalcy and also excellent chance of changing the potus in 2020.

 

I reckon Pence would also face a strong primary challenge as well as his legitimacy being elected with "trump" would be soiled.

 

Sent from my Lenovo A7020a48 using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

 

 

 

a democrat controlled congress is normalcy? in what world is that?

[mcambl61]

13 hours ago, Somtamnication said:

And the countdown begins for Pence for president. Oh my God! I feel so bad for the 'merkins!

don't feel bad, we are not in the socialist UK, so we are happy

[Chomper Higgot]

11 minutes ago, mcambl61 said:

don't feel bad, we are not in the socialist UK, so we are happy

‘Socialism, the reason you don’t need to bring your own highway when you want to drive anywhere’

Bill Maher

[Becker]

13 minutes ago, mcambl61 said:

don't feel bad, we are not in the socialist UK, so we are happy

We? Very arrogant assumption but predictable.

[GinBoy2]

I'm so numb at this point, but it's fascinating to see how the landscape has changed.
Pence on Clinton:

"Vice President Mike Pence once argued that a president could be removed from office simply if he lost the moral authority to lead.

CNN unearthed two newspaper columns that Pence wrote in the late 1990s, when he was a radio host. In them, Pence made the argument that President Bill Clinton had lost his moral authority to lead the country because of his affair with Monica Lewinsky.

‘Seriously, the very idea that we ought to have at or less than the same moral demands placed on the Chief Executive that we place on our next door neighbor is ludicrous and dangerous’
Vice President Mike Pence
Pence wrote that a president needed to be held to a higher moral standard that “our next door neighbor, dismissing the idea that the president is “just like the rest of us.”

“The president of the United States can incinerate the planet,” he said.

As a result, the First Family must be role models, he argued.

Pence has largely stayed silent regarding the allegations that President Donald Trump had extramarital affairs with a former Playboy model Karen McDougal and a former adult firm actress Stormy Daniels and knew that payments were made to them during the 2016 presidential campaign to keep their stories from becoming public.

Read: FBI has secret tape of Trump talking payment to Playboy model

Pence did once call Daniels’ assertions of an affair with Trump “baseless.” Trump is being investigated by Special Counsel Robert Mueller over allegations his campaign colluded with Russia. Trump has repeatedly called the probe to be halted."

Obviously Pence has some epiphany that extra marital affairs, are now fine, who cares, well I certainly don't obviously in the past he did.

Well Mike, recommend you you find some hot White House Intern and start banging her...God doesn't care anymore, and neither it appears does the party!

Enjoy!