Pavel Manafort's Trials and Tribulations

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NO COLLUSION! 

 

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Fun fact:  "Deripaska"  rhymes with Finnish "eri paska", different shit. 

 

 

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This is new: yeah so they colluded but he's friends with spies so it doesn't count 

 

[Flossie]

Interesting.  So if I'm friendly with the neighborhood bank robber, and I get a job at a bank, it's no problem if I mention to said bank robber that a shipment of cash is coming in via route 66 and is expected to arrive at 2 am next Tuesday.  It's almost certainly a coincidence and no one else's business if that shipment gets robbed and the next day my friend gifts me with $50,000 in dye marked bills just before he leaves to go visit relatives in Brazil, right?

[fraurosena]

Good thread explaining just hoe big of a deal sparing poll data with the Russians actually is.

I like the twist at the end where he implies Kellyanne is in on it too.

[onekidanddone]

On 1/9/2019 at 11:12 PM, fraurosena said:

I like the twist at the end where he implies Kellyanne is in on it too.

Oh please let this be true because I'm so sick of her smug mug.

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Hope the House is a bit more effective now they're got Schiff to run it. 

[fraurosena]

New document filed in Manafort case. It’s redacted, but mostly readable. If my guesses are correct, he’s been asked and testified about the infamous tower meeting (in which he took part and allegedly took notes). The document also reveals that Manafort was advising the administration in who to hire as late as early last year, and he was in contact with the administration as late as fall last year.

 

Edited January 16, 2019 by fraurosena
Stupid phone typo

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Oh snap.

 

[fraurosena]

No chance of unredacting the redacted bits of that transcript this time I think, but I hope it's still insightful. ?

 

[Howl]

On 1/9/2019 at 10:12 PM, fraurosena said:

I like the twist at the end where he implies Kellyanne is in on it too.

Makes sense; that's her damn specialty.  

Her twitter handle is kellyannpolls.  She was a well know and successful pollster and political consultant before coming Trump's......uh, spokeswoman  spinner in chief  Pants-on-Fire Liar in Chief. 

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A court transcript https://edition.cnn.com/2019/02/07/politics/transcript-paul-manafort-hearing/index.html

[GreyhoundFan]

This popped up as breaking news on the WaPo website: "Federal judge finds ex-Trump campaign chairman Manafort lied to Mueller probe about contacts with Russian aide"

Quote

Paul Manafort lied to prosecutors with special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s office about matters close to the heart of their investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, a federal judge ruled Wednesday.

The judge’s finding that Manafort, 69, breached his cooperation deal with prosecutors by lying after his guilty plea could add years to his prison sentence and came after a set of sealed court hearings. Prosecutors argued he deliberately made false statements.
This is a developing story. It will be updated.

 

[fraurosena]

Here's the official court document.

From the filing:

In light of the defendant's concession, and based upon the court's independent review of entire record [...]  the defendant made false statements and thereby breached the plea agreement in good faith. 

[...] The question remains whether the defendant intentionally false statements [...]

[...] the court has made the following additional findings [...]

The document goes on to state that the Office of the Special Counsel has established by a preponderance of the evidence that Manafort  intentionally made false statements in three of the five counts (the two counts concerning his October 16th meeting are the exception). 

This is pretty damning for Manafort. On TRMS Barbara McQuade (former AG of the eastern district of Michigan) said he could now face up to 24 to 30 years in prison. At his age (he's 69) that means he will probably die in prison.

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If not pardoned

[formergothardite]

If he is pardoned can't he then be called to testify and he can't plead the fifth? 

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[fraurosena]

1 hour ago, formergothardite said:

If he is pardoned can't he then be called to testify and he can't plead the fifth? 

Yep. Accepting a pardon means accepting guilt of the crime you are pardoned for. You can only plead the fifth if you might implicate yourself in a crime. But if you've already admitted to being guilty to that crime, pleading the fifth becomes obsolete. Ergo, you have to testify. 

That said, as he's such a consummate liar, there's no telling if his testimony will be truthful or not. If he is not truthful with his testimony, then he is committing a new federal offence for which he can be charged and if found guilty, sentenced. Then again, he could get a pardon for that as well.

In other words, he can be made to testify and he won't be able to plead the fifth, but there are no guarantees it'll be worth something.

[GreyhoundFan]

""Special counsel calls Manafort’s crimes ‘brazen’ but recommends no specific sentence

Spoiler

Federal prosecutors on Friday called Paul Manafort’s tax and bank fraud “brazen” and “serious,” but did not recommend a specific punishment for his convictions in Virginia.

Federal guidelines call for President Trump’s onetime campaign chairman to spend 19 to 24 years in prison for committing tax and bank fraud, the prosecutors noted Friday in a filing. They said the range was properly calculated by Manafort’s probation officer.

“Manafort acted for more than a decade as if he were above the law, and deprived the federal government and various financial institutions of millions of dollars,” the special counsel wrote in the Friday memo in federal court in Alexandria. “The sentence here should reflect the seriousness of these crimes.”

They added that it is hard to compare Manafort to other perpetrators of fraud: “Given the breadth of Manafort’s criminal activity, the government has not located a comparable case with the unique array of crimes and aggravating factors.”

Whatever sentence Ellis gives, the government wants it to be imposed soon.

“There are no outstanding issues warranting delay,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Uzo Asonye wrote in an earlier filing adding that “the government requests that the Court set a new sentencing date as soon as practicable.”

Manafort’s attorneys have instead requested a hearing to set dates for sentencing and related pleadings, and urged Ellis to examine the full record.

The filings came the same week a federal judge in Washington concluded that Manafort has been dishonest in his dealings with prosecutors in a related case in the District. The former Trump campaign chairman pleaded guilty in the District case.

As part of his plea, Manafort agreed to cooperate honestly with special counsel Robert S. Mueller III. After prosecutors accused Manafort of breaking that pledge, Ellis decided to delay his sentencing in Virginia until the issue was resolved.

On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson in Washington concluded that Manafort did in fact lie about his interactions with Konstantin Kilimnik, a longtime aide assessed by the FBI to have ties to Russian intelligence.

Kilimnik denied having Russian intelligence connections in a 2017 interview with The Washington Post.

Manafort also lied about a payment he claimed was a loan and about another, unrelated Justice Department investigation, the judge found.

Jackson was expected Friday to release a transcript of a sealed hearing at which she heard arguments from both sides over whether Manafort lied or, as his attorneys argued, his misstatements were the result of confusion or faulty recollection.

Manafort continues to maintain that he did not intentionally mislead prosecutors, and his attorneys on Friday urged Ellis to read the complete transcripts and motions.

“The information redacted from the public versions of these documents is critical to the consideration of the issues raised during that litigation,” they wrote.

Because Manafort was found to have failed to cooperate truthfully, the government is no longer required to recommend he get a reduced sentence from Jackson at his March 13 sentencing. The maximum punishment for the two conspiracy crimes to which he pleaded guilty is ten years, but Jackson has said she might make her sentence run consecutive to what Ellis imposes.

In Virginia, where Manafort was found guilty at trial, there is no agreement, and the 69-year-old could face decades in prison. Legal experts predict a sentence in the range of seven to 10 years.

 

[Howl]

Paul Manafort! Men wanted to be him; women wanted to be with him.  

Now poor Paulie Walnuts is just sittin' in a cell, eating bologna sandwiches on white bread, wondering if he'll ever get a pardon.  Meanwhile Trump's already distanced himself and forgotten about Manafort entirely. 

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[fraurosena]

Mueller has filed his sentencing memo for Manafort under seal. 

 

[GreyhoundFan]