Posted on 09/14/2018 7:28:14 AM PDT by yesthatjallen
Special counsel Robert Mueller has filed a superseding criminal information against former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, indicating a forthcoming guilty plea on charges related to his work lobbying for pro Russian forces in Ukraine.
The filing was made in federal court on Friday, ahead of a pretrial conference at 11 a.m.
The pretrial conference was changed to an arraignment and plea agreement hearing before Judge Amy Berman Jackson, according to a notice Friday morning from the court.
A criminal information typically precedes a guilty plea.
Officials told The Washington Post that Manafort had agreed to plead guilty to federal crimes.
A guilty plea will allow Manafort to evade what was likely to be another explosive trial stemming from Mueller's sprawling investigation into Russian interference, weeks after he was convicted in a separate bank and tax fraud trail in Virginia.
It remains unclear whether any plea agreement will include Manafort's cooperation in Mueller's investigation.
Should Manafort agree to cooperate, the development could be significant. Manafort served as Trump's campaign chairman until August 2016, and was one of three Trump associates who participated in the June 2016 Trump Tower meeting with a Russian lawyer after being offered damaging information on Hillary Clinton, Trump's opponents.
The criminal information alleges that Manafort illegally lobbied on behalf of pro-Russian forces in Ukraine.
It also alleges that he laundered over $30 million into the United States in connection with his work, evading over $15 million in taxes. It charges him with one count of conspiracy against the United States and one count of conspiracy to obstruct justice.
Manafort was convicted in August on eight counts of tax and bank fraud, which included failing to report foreign bank accounts, in a federal district court in Virginia. The three-week trial centered on income Manafort earned working as a political consultant for pro-Russian Ukraine.
The jury failed to reach a consensus on another 10 counts, forcing the judge to rule a mistrial on those charges. Prosecutors had not yet said whether they planned to retry him on the 10 counts.
In the D.C. case, Manafort was facing seven separate charges, including failing to register as a lobbyist for a foreign country, conspiracy to commit bank fraud, and obstructing justice for witness tampering.
Prosecutors had offered Manafort the opportunity to have a single trial on all charges, but he refused, forcing prosecutors to bring charges both in the Eastern District of Virginia and D.C.
Court watchers had expected the D.C. trail to be more explosive than the Virginia proceedings and uncover links between President Trump’s campaign and Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election.
Would Manafort have been prosecuted had he not worked for Trump’s campaign?
How’s this for misleading: “Manafort served as Trump’s campaign chairman until August 2016..”
Without mentioning he was only manager for a few months.
“Court watchers had expected the D.C. trail to be more explosive than the Virginia proceedings and uncover links between President Trump’s campaign and Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election.” Except the judge put the kibosh on that just like a separate judge did in the other trial.
He probably has no choice but to plead guilty.
His legal bills are in the hundreds of thousands. Mueller has millions to spend on his petty witch hunt. But Manafort has probably had to sell of his $15,000 Ostrich Coat.
When he worked as a Lobbyist but not Trump LOL , Lobbyists the scum of the Earth
What does Comey, Mueller, Rosenstein,Kerry,Feinstein Clinton,Strok, Obama...and all the others.. plead?
Gotta love that “4D chess”, huh?
How’s this for misleading: “Manafort served as Trump’s campaign chairman until August 2016..”
Without mentioning he was only manager for a few months.
—
Manfort was only hired for his convention experience. The #NeverTrumpers were threating to steal the nomination at the convention. Manafort was brought in to make sure Trump wasn’t robbed of the republican nomination at the convention.
The criminal information alleges that Manafort illegally lobbied on behalf of pro-Russian forces in Ukraine.
It also alleges that he laundered over $30 million into the United States in connection with his work, evading over $15 million in taxes. It charges him with one count of conspiracy against the United States and one count of conspiracy to obstruct justice.
Since Tony Podesta was his partner in the Ukraine consulting business, yes.
Robert Torquemada gets another scalp.
Manafort’s issues were examined previously by DOJ and found not to be worth their while. Revived and persecuted purely because of his relation to Trump. Even went so far as to suspend some of the statutes of limitations. Filthy.
Well, his partner Tony Podesta hasn’t been.
The "illegal lobbying" charge, as far as I know, is nothing more than a failure to register as a lobbyist for a foreign client. This is a common offense and is usually handled with a warning to get registered. On this charge least, this is selective prosecution. Once Manafort pleads, Sessions should bring criminal charges against about 50 top-drawer Democrats who have done the same thing, and bankrupt them if they don't immediately plead guilty and agree to do time.
Once Manafort pleads, Sessions should bring criminal charges against about 50 top-drawer Democrats who have done the same thing, and bankrupt them if they don’t immediately plead guilty and agree to do time.
Would be great but wont happen.
Why. I think that the Dems have all the NSA data they need to bury any Republican who dares to expose the real crookedness of the swamp.
Hillary to me certainly has all of this and will nuke whomever dares , from either side to ever come close to prosecuting her.
Our only hope if THE Donald at some point exposes all of this to truly Drain the Swamp .....
Federal crimes warrant a Presidential pardon.
> Gotta love that “4D chess”, huh?
Seems to be a game where you allow your pieces to be captured one by one while you capture none of your opponent’s pieces. Doesn’t sound like much fun.
Would be nice to have an AG in the Administration.
Bingo!
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