1. Manafort is INDEED in talks with prosecutors (MEANING MUELLER bc HE is the prosecutor in this case) about a possible plea deal. BLOOP, people. BLOOP!
2. Two people familiar with the matter "cautioned that the negotiations may not result in a deal with special counsel Robert Mueller". Naturally, bc there won't be a deal unless Manafort sings like the birdiest birdie that has ever sung.
3. "But the discussions indicate a possible shift in strategy for Manafort" No kidding. When the prospect of the rest of his life in prison materialized, Manafort finally saw that oopsie, he was cornered and if he ever wanted to enjoy life again? Best to talk to Mueller, stat.
4. WaPo says: "The specifics of Manafort’s current negotiations with prosecutors were unclear, including whether he would provide any information about the president." Manafort can deliver both Pence and Trump. I don't think Mueller settles for anything less than "ALL OF IT".
5. 5. The other aspect of this is that Manafort & his lawyers at this point KNOW that a pardon is POINTLESS, bc Manafort will be nailed with state charges and spend the rest of his life in jail regardless. Hence why, as we've always said, his ONLY real option is flipping.
6. Trump, in his immense ignorance of the law (read: obstruction and witness tampering), praised Manafort for "not breaking" and "not making stories up to make a deal." NO ONE can make stuff up to get a deal, Dondon. Bc JAIL. Clearly Manafort prefers freedom to Trump's approval.
7. This is the key point for many, that people don't seem to fully grasp: most of these people don't have anything to gain from a pardon, bc state charges will anyway send them to jail. And this is exactly why Mueller has been coordinating with NY State AG from the start.
8. Not to forget we also have SDNY in the mix now, bc Mueller and Rosenstein branched out the Cohen investigation to them. And SDNY, Mueller and NY AG have been directly cooperating and coordinating. Bc of the double jeopardy rule, they don't take risks.
9. So understand this once and for all: the reason why NY State AG wants this double jeopardy rule to be removed is bc they can avoid coordinating with FBI on who brings which charges. BUT IF the rule stays, they will simply go on as they always did.Bring charges by coordinating.
10. The other interesting thing about this plea deal negotiations report, is that while Mueller's spox Peter Carr NEVER comments, in this case Manafort's spox isn't commenting either. Neither are Paulie's lawyers. Meaning: clearly true and can't comment, bc negotiations.
11. The essential point here is this: there is NO WAY Mueller even ENTERS a negotiating stage with Manafort unless FULL cooperation is on the table. This is BIG news bc we're talking about an actual plea deal and COOPERATION, not a simple guilty plea, that wouldn't happen.
12. Mueller has overwhelming evidence against Manafort for the DC trial, so he has ZERO interest in letting him just plead guilty so his sentence can be shortened. He can nail him for maximum time. These are plea deal negotiations as in a COOPERATION agreement.
13. What the cooperation might involve, we can't know, but Manafort PICKED Pence and tricked Trump into meeting with him for longer so that he would ensure his VP seat. So he FOR SURE can deliver Pence. Would that be enough for Mueller, going from bottom to top? Maybe.
14. The thing is, Manfort can also deliver Trump and he can do so bc of the MONEY trail, bc he was the one talking to certain players *cough* Deripaska *cough* who are Putin's money people. So why would Mueller settle for "just Pence"? That might be one of the negotiating points.
15. Mueller is the boss here, he's a million steps ahead of everyone & he knows exactly what he's doing. So if there is a plea deal? We may not find out about the COOPERATION part in full or at all, bc they can seal that, but rest assured that no cooperation, no deal for Paulie.
16. Mueller also doesn't necessarily NEED Manafort, bc he may already have enough evidence. But the fact negotiations are on, suggests that Manfort may have intel that others don't have OR that he may be a key witness to events that Mueller needs further corroboration for.
17. Buckle up, because if Manafort flips? L'enfant orange is going to throw THE biggest tantrum we've seen yet. Or.. maybe this is what's been reported to him among other things, and that's why we've seen the latest crazy. Either way: #MuellerIsComing /END
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1. Simon Kukes, a Houston-based oil executive, sent an email to a Russian official in Moscow in July 2016, boasting of his connections to Trump campaign and requesting a face-to-face meeting. The official is Vyacheslav Pavlovsky, a former Russian ambassador to Norway.
2. NBC HAS THE EMAILS. Kukes wrote to Pavlovsky" I have been actively involved in Trump's election campagn, and am part of the group on strategy deveopment. I will be in Switzerland July 20 to Aug. 2. Let me know how you are doing and whether you want to meet." Oh. OH.
3. NBC obtained emails through a London-based investigative project funded by MIkhail Khodorkovsky, a Russian opposition figure. The Dossier Center gathers information to try to expose high-level corruption in Moscow. NBC reviewed the emails in conjunction with The Guardian.
1. MANAFORT AGREED TO PLEA DEAL WITH MUELLER. Politely bear in mind, no matter what we actually SEE of this, given the evidence Mueller has, there's NO WAY Mueller entered a plea deal without meaningful cooperation. The cooperation part? Can easily be sealed.
2. This means Manafort could easily do the same as Cohen. Just plead guilty to n. counts, and we don't see any "cooperation" agreement. That doesn't mean it doesn't exist. The two can easily be separated, with the cooperation agreement sealed for obvious reasons here.
3. I absolutely don't think the news about the "joint defense agreement" is current and I also think it is being put out for a specific reason. It's clear that there's been coordinated effort to make everyone think Manafort won't "flip" . That's the easiest way to protect him.
2. The details of the story are BEYOND disgusting but pay attention to this detail that former Playmate Shera Bechard cites in her LAWSUIT against Broidy: "Bechard recalled Broidy telling her that he admired Trump’s "uncanny ability to sexually abuse women and get away with it.""
3. "Among Bechard’s allegations are that Broidy refused to wear condoms and didn’t disclose to her that he had genital herpes until years after their sexual relationship, according to a court filing. "
Not even going to comment.
1. Bruce Ohr is the Justice Department lawyer who was told by Christopher Steele that Russian intelligence believed it had Trump "over a barrel". Start seeing why Trump is going after him?
2. These details pertain to a breakfast that happened on July 30, 2016. Ohr described the breakfast to CONGRESS this week in a private interview. And that's how the GOP Trump lackeys went to tell Trump, he found out and decided he can't have a witness at DoJ.
3. So if Trump so much as THINKS of touching Bruce Ohr, that is direct obstruction of justice, and his tweets already constitute witness tampering. AND everyone in Congress who was present at the interview KNOWS that. Just so you know who to hold accountable.
1. What Cohen's actually explosive knowledge of facts covers, that can make the entire house of cards crash: the hacking and the Trump Tower meeting, both of which TRUMP KNEW about and in the hacking case, an event Trump even encouraged.
2. In the case of the hacking, there's a $50,000 mysterious payment Cohen made to an undisclosed tech company to help the Trump campaign, that awfully sounds like the arrangements the Steele dossier says Cohen made to pay off Russian hackers "without it being traced".
3. Cohen's lawyer Lanny Davis specifically said on @maddow that Cohen has knowledge about the hacking that is of interest for Mueller. And the detail of the tech company payment emerged from the indictment. If the connection is accurate (and it seems like it is), this is huge.
Um... so there's news here. 1) McGahn was interviewed by Mueller and "cooperated extensively" with Mueller's team. And 2) there's no way saying that Trump tried to ensure control of the Mueller probe is in NO WAY favorable to Trump. That's obstruction.
2. McGahn shared "detailed accounts" about episodes pertaining to the obstruction of justice investigation, "including some that investigators would not have learnt otherwise". Read: McGahn delivered Trump to Mueller on obstruction on a silver platter. Bloop!
3. This adds up to the previous report that dozens of WH aides, some of which working for McGahn, were interviewed by Mueller AND delivered key evidence for Mueller's obstruction case. The danger for Trump is NOT Mueller, it comes from HIS OWN AIDES who WON'T go to jail for him.