Trump’s threat to pardon Manafort must be taken seriously. Trump wouldn't pardon Manafort for anything Manafort did in connection with the campaign #manafort
1/ (that would strip Manafort of his Fifth Amendment protection for those matters): only for the financial crimes involved in the two court cases. #manafort
2/ This pardon would thereby remove all the pressure Manafort is under to be a cooperating witness against Trump for collusion, and would still leave Manafort with Fifth Amendment protection over the collusion/conspiracy matter.
3/ The controversy would then quickly move to whether pardoning Manafort in this way constituted obstruction of justice. Of course, that would be Trump’s overriding motive, but the case that this wasn’t the motive might be colorable enough to protect Trump against impeachment.
4/ If Trump pardons Manafort in this way, it will be one more thing--a huge thing--that will be on the ballot in the upcoming election. November 6 becomes steadily more and more important: the most important election in my lifetime--and that goes back a ways.
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I posted this to Twitter a long time ago. It’s from Yuri Felshtinsky and Vladimir Pribylovsky, The Corporation: Russia and the KGB in the Age of President Putin. Encounter Books. 2008, pp. 40-41 (not available online):
(THREAD) Collins votes YES, so Kavanaugh’s confirmed.
This is the finale of the confirmation VOTE, but it is NOT the end of the #Kavanaugh ISSUE. 1/14
The FBI “investigation” was a sham, and that makes Collins’ special pleading for her YES vote a sham. It was a sickening performance. 2/14
The fatal weakness of her defense of her vote is that there was no meaningful investigation. Merely seeking corroboration in the form of direct, eyewitness testimony from the participants of the 1 Jul 1982 meeting does not constitute a meaningful investigation. 3/14
A subjective impression, admittedly, but in the pics and videos I have seen, Senate Rs look grim and worried--even, on occasion, angry.
D claim that this was a cover-up (20+ witnesses not called) is getting traction. No adequate push back from Rs yet.
McConnell saying on the floor that the Senate must vote to confirm b/c “in this country you’re not guilty until proven innocent” has this whole matter so wrong (it’s a job interview, Mitch, not a trial) that he must be feeling a little desperate.
(THREAD) The predicted early conclusion of the FBI background check on #Kavanaugh that has been reported by Politico and the WSJ is surprising and cause for anxiety and concern, but let’s look try hard to look on the (possibly) bright side. 1/8
We must keep in mind that this investigation is essentially a background check on #Kavanaugh, in light of newly surfaced allegations of belligerent drunkenness and sexual violence alleged against him by Ford and others. 2/8
So this investigation is more about Kavanaugh and his nomination than it is about Ford or any other accusers, and while the FBI does not reach conclusions, it does uncovers facts, and presents those facts to others so they can better reach their own conclusions. 3/8