Manafort jury has reached a verdict

[Sunburn74]

“It’s a white collar crime, who the heck is in jeopardy, the American public?” said giuliani.

I guess they should pardon Bernie Madoff and all those Enron guys as well because white collar crimes don't hurt anyone. They're just harmless shenanigans with no real world consequences to actual people.

 

[Jhhnn]

Rudy Giuliani suggests Manafort isn't really a criminal, says Trump may pardon him: 'He’s hardly a menace to society'

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Yeh, stealing millions from the banks & the government is different than regular kinds of stealing... I mean, stealing from the government is almost patriotic... somewhere in the Giuliani universe...

 

[SP33Demon]

Good, if he was hiding money in the Ukraine then he's going to have to do his time. Dumbass got caught, or more likely got targeted by the deep state for his ties to Trump. Otherwise nobody would've even given a shit about this guy.

 

[zinfamous]

Rudy Giuliani suggests Manafort isn't really a criminal, says Trump may pardon him: 'He’s hardly a menace to society'

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[zinfamous]

Good, if he was hiding money in the Ukraine then he's going to have to do his time. Dumbass got caught, or more likely got targeted by the deep state for his ties to Trump. Otherwise nobody would've even given a shit about this guy.

Good job, Distillo, keep beating that drum.

 

[Sunburn74]

Good, if he was hiding money in the Ukraine then he's going to have to do his time. Dumbass got caught, or more likely got targeted by the deep state for his ties to Trump. Otherwise nobody would've even given a shit about this guy.

I think the reality is that Manafort was on the radar of various law enforcement group after he was suddenly fired without ever a public explanation by the Trump organization which itself later came under investigation. If you look at Flynn who was forced out and other shady characters, the group you're working with first realizes you're too big a risk to keep around and then law enforcement catches on. It's no different than your wife first finding your child porn stash and then divorcing you quietly to avoid the embarassment. If your wife goes under investigation for something, they may look into the divorce a bit closely and bada-bing bada-boom it all comes out. You can't argue "well this is a witch hunt because you only are taking me down for child porn because my wife is under-investigation. Otherwise you wouldn't even care about child porn".

 

[SP33Demon]

I think the reality is that Manafort was on the radar of various law enforcement group after he was suddenly fired without ever a public explanation by the Trump organization which itself later came under investigation. If you look at Flynn who was forced out and other shady characters, the group you're working with first realizes you're too big a risk to keep around and then law enforcement catches on. It's no different than your wife first finding your child porn stash and then divorcing you quietly to avoid the embarassment. If your wife goes under investigation for something, they may look into the divorce a bit closely and bada-bing bada-boom it all comes out. You can't argue "well this is a witch hunt because you only are taking me down for child porn because my wife is under-investigation. Otherwise you wouldn't even care about child porn".

This could be the case, obviously the guy wasn't reporting money he made overseas which is a big no no. But all in all he would've been a nobody if Trump had never hired him, same with cohen. In your analogy, nobody would even care to investigate the husband if his wife wasn't famous and the wife was targeted by her political opponents. He would be a nobody. The moral of the story is pay your taxes, the IRS always wins. On a related note, blue states should also take note since they are kicking and screaming about the new 10k cap on SALT taxes and trying to institute illegal state laws to circumvent the new federal tax law. The IRS has already put them on notice saying they will come after any blue states that try to circumvent the 10k cap.

 

[UNCjigga]

Good, if he was hiding money in the Ukraine then he's going to have to do his time. Dumbass got caught, or more likely got targeted by the deep state for his ties to Trump. Otherwise nobody would've even given a shit about this guy.

Nope. He's been on FBI radar long before he hooked up with Trump's campaign. Too bad Trump's "extreme vetting" didn't raise any red flags on Manafort.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/poli...f88ac6-47cc-11e8-827e-190efaf1f1ee_story.html

 

[SP33Demon]

Nope. He's been on FBI radar long before he hooked up with Trump's campaign. Too bad Trump's "extreme vetting" didn't raise any red flags on Manafort.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/poli...f88ac6-47cc-11e8-827e-190efaf1f1ee_story.html

They vetted him enough to get rid of him before he could do any damage. Pretty sure they knew what was up with that guy. Everybody has dirt if you investigate them long enough, but Manafort had a landfill's worth.

 

[UNCjigga]

They vetted him enough to get rid of him before he could do any damage.

Again, nope.

https://www.businessinsider.com/manafort-notes-trump-tower-meeting-russia-donald-jr-2017-8

https://www.politico.com/story/2017/11/08/republicans-russia-platform-fight-244672

He likely had a big role in securing delegate support to prevent a contested GOP convention...and I'm sure Mueller will be looking into whether Manafort peddled Russian influence around in order to line his pockets (was he really working on the campaign for "free"?)

 

[zinfamous]

They vetted him enough to get rid of him before he could do any damage. Pretty sure they knew what was up with that guy. Everybody has dirt if you investigate them long enough, but Manafort had a landfill's worth.

Manafort was Putin's guy in Ukraine. This isn't a secret or anything, as it was freely-available public information well before Trump dropped the stones to try and run again. They knew exactly who Manafort was when he was hired. He was vetted so thoroughly that they wanted to make sure he was the exact kind of criminal that would fit in with the rest of them.

 

[hal2kilo]

Nope. He's been on FBI radar long before he hooked up with Trump's campaign. Too bad Trump's "extreme vetting" didn't raise any red flags on Manafort.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/poli...f88ac6-47cc-11e8-827e-190efaf1f1ee_story.html

Nope. He's been on FBI radar long before he hooked up with Trump's campaign. Too bad Trump's "extreme vetting" didn't raise any red flags on Manafort.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/poli...f88ac6-47cc-11e8-827e-190efaf1f1ee_story.html

Trump's a 2 faced liar. He was told by Sally Yates that Flynn was bad news and fired her for it. Now he's pissed because Obama's admin did not tell him that Manafort was a bad guy they had already been looking at. Sorry, you can't have it both ways.

 

[Sunburn74]

They vetted him enough to get rid of him before he could do any damage. Pretty sure they knew what was up with that guy. Everybody has dirt if
you investigate them long enough, but Manafort had a landfill's worth.

I actually somewhat doubt this. If there's anything the Trump campaign has been heavily criticised about its their lack of vetting (Manafort, lewandowski, carter page, Cohen, Gates, Flynn, Omarosa etc etc the list is a mile long here of questionable characters and backgrounds elevated to position of power within this administration).

I remember reading a story about early in the campaign the GOP offered to vet Trump and all his people in order to find these bad stories, high risk characters, and etc and he refused to do so because it would mean revealing info like his taxes to the GOP.

 

[Jhhnn]

I actually somewhat doubt this. If there's anything the Trump campaign has been heavily criticised about its their lack of vetting (Manafort, lewandowski, carter page, Cohen, Gates, Flynn, Omarosa etc etc the list is a mile long here of questionable characters and backgrounds elevated to position of power within this administration).

I remember reading a story about early in the campaign the GOP offered to vet Trump and all his people in order to find these bad stories, high risk characters, and etc and he refused to do so because it would mean revealing info like his taxes to the GOP.

Poor Donald! All these scumbags swooped in to try to take advantage of him! He's just too trusting!

 

[woolfe9998]

Manafort discussing a plea arrangement for the charges in the second trial.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/worl...bd52dfe917b_story.html?utm_term=.e9d545093d13

But without offering cooperation. It's a standard type plea deal where he pleads guilty to something and other things are dropped.

They shouldn't go for it. Having a trial will bring important information to the public. And from what I've read, the prosecution almost can't lose.

A significant point discussed in the article is something I've been saying for a long while: that Manafort's lack of cooperation can't be explained unless he has been promised a pardon by Trump. Trump has publicly praised Manafort for not cooperating with federal prosecutors. I'd bet a large sum that a pardon is forthcoming.

 

[sactoking]

Agreed. If he can cop a non-cooperating plea deal to fewer/reduced charges then they can claim he is innocent but pleaded guilty to avoid getting railroaded. If he goes to trial and the evidence becomes public and he's found guilty a pardon would be politically risky.

 

[baydude]

So what happens if Manafort cooperates with Mueller and offers information only to confirm Manafort is a crook and Trump campaign had nothing to do with Russian collusion?

 

[zinfamous]

So what happens if Manafort cooperates with Mueller and offers information only to confirm Manafort is a crook and Trump campaign had nothing to do with Russian collusion?

Uh, there would be no deal to begin with, obviously. Even if it doesn't lead directly to Trump, a deal could lead to someone higher than Manafort in Ukraine or Russia or wherever who is directly tied to Trump based on the various piles of evidence that Mueller and NYAG certainly already have.

There is no reason to offer a deal if they don't know what they will be getting out of Manafort. Recall that they already know pretty much what Manafort knows--it's the only reason they would be considering a deal. They need testimony.