Paul Manafort has “flipped.”
The man whom Donald J Trump called a “brave man” just days ago because Trump said he would never break under pressure. While others might “rat” on him, not Paul.
Manafort weighed the options – Take a jail cell for ten to twenty years for the Donald and see his family suffer incalculable hardships (never mind him).
Or, make the Deal.
And to his credit (there is always time as long as you draw breathe to do the right thing), Paul “flipped” in D C District Court before Judge Amy Berman Jackson.
The prosecutor (Mueller’s team) Andrew Weissmann, laid before the Judge the details of Manafort’s crimes (for which he has been convicted) and the fact of Manafort’s “plea bargain.”
Here’s the way the Washington Post reported it:
“Before Manafort pleaded guilty, Weissmann spent about 40 minutes describing in detail Manafort’s criminal conduct — from a 10-year scheme to act as an unregistered agent of a foreign government, to hiding millions of dollars he earned from that work, and then, when investigators were on his trail, trying to tamper with witnesses in the case.
After a year of denying the charges and fighting them at every stage of the investigation, Manafort admitted Friday that he did what prosecutors had long said — cheat the IRS out of $15 million and lie repeatedly to try to cover his tracks. While he pleaded guilty to just two of the seven charges he faced at trial, prosecutors forced him to admit to the broad scope of his financial and secret lobbying schemes.
“I believe it’s fair to say that’s probably the longest and most detailed summary that ever preceded this question, but is what the prosecutor said a true and accurate description of what you did in this case?” Jackson asked Manafort.
“I did. It is,” Manafort said, resting both hands on the lectern before him.
Jackson noted Manafort had agreed to cooperate “fully and truthfully” with the investigation conducted by the office of special counsel, including participating in interviews and debriefings, producing documents in his control, testifying and agreeing to delay sentencing until a time set by the government.
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders issued a brief statement after the announcement. “This had absolutely nothing to do with the President or his victorious 2016 Presidential campaign” she said. “It is totally unrelated.”
In a Pig’s eye!
The Gospel According to (Saint) Paul may have everything to do with the President and it may be devastating.
Flipping Manafort, as Joe Biden once said to Barrack Obama on the passage of the Affordable Care act (he thought off mike), is a “Big FXXXXXX Deal!”
Manafort was The Donald’s campaign chairman during a crucial time in 2016, when the question of collusion , conspiracy if you will, with Vladimir Putin and the Russians is being investigated. He was present at the famous “Trump Tower Meeting” with three persons who had ties to the Kremlin along with Donald Trump, Jr., who had emailed in advance that if he was going to be given information detrimental to Hillary Clinton he would “love it.”
And who knows what Manafort knows?
Robert Mueller knows.
Before the Government agrees to a Deal as part of a Plea Bargain, the subject must tell the Government what he/she is prepared to testify to, tell what it is he/she knows that the Government finds helpful in pursuing the question of others involvement in criminal activity. And having persuaded Mueller that he has pertinent information that would aide Muller’s investigation, should he renege and refuse to testify accordingly, then he goes to jail big time.
Oh yes, one last thing.
Forget the Pardon, Paul.
It probably wouldn’t have happened anyway. Loyalty to Donald J Trump is a one way street and no one other than him gets to drive on it.