Posted on 07/22/2017 8:01:24 AM PDT by Rusty0604
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. investigators examining money laundering accusations against President Donald Trump’s former campaign manager Paul Manafort hope to push him to cooperate with their probe into possible collusion between Trump's campaign and Russia, two sources with direct knowledge of the investigation said.
Special Counsel Robert Mueller's team is examining Manafort's financial and real estate records in New York as well as his involvement in Ukrainian politics, the officials said.
Between 2006 and 2013, Manafort bought three New York properties, including one in Trump Tower in Manhattan. He paid for them in full and later took out mortgages against them. A former senior U.S. law enforcement official said that tactic is often used as a means to hide the origin of funds gained illegally. Reuters has no independent evidence that Manafort did this.
The sources also did not say whether Mueller has uncovered any evidence to charge Manafort with money laundering, but they said doing so is seen by investigators as critical in getting his full cooperation in their investigation.
"If Mueller's team can threaten criminal charges against Manafort, they could use that as leverage to convince him to cooperate," said one of the sources.
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
He cant be forced to testify.
But there are all kinds of ways to pressure someone to flip. Someone who put away a mafia Don knows how to do it.
People flip to protect their children ..thus if I was involved I would also be looking at the investigations by various people into the shady deals of family that dovetail into the timing . Remember that mueller cant prosecute..but others can
FBI AGENTS once got caught for nefarious activity because of an unrelated Investigation into terrorism of their co conspirator...for which they didnt make the case on terrorism charge. You never know where an investigation Can take you
He can fire mueller. He can also order rosenstein to do it. Rosenstein has made his position clear
Comey was not fired through the chain of command. Trump fired him directly.
Now you are putting words in my mouth.
I said..and I will be right..that the scope of the order lets mueller do what he is doing as it relates to business dealing and finances. It is a broad scope. He finds the trail..he can follow it.
More likely, Mueller is just trying to gin up some charges he can use to get somebody like Manafort to lie about what happened so he can use it against others. That's a tactic used by dirty prosecutors who lack real evidence. Many times the jailed "witness" recounts their accusations after the trial that convicted an innocent person.
Oh, I know about flipping, I watch IDTV!:-) It was actually a rhetorical question.
And when they recant the prosecutor uses the old “so if you lied then how do we know you’re not lying now” trick.
People flip to protect their children
Do you realize you are supporting the worst kind of governmental (or for that matter individual) behavior? Since when it is appropriate ethically for anyone to "pressure" someone, by for instance threatening their children?
That kind of behavior is ugly and should be rejected and condemned when it is coming from a mafia thug. If it is coming from an attorney working for the federal government it should also not be tolerated, any more than lying, withholding exculpatory evidence, manufacturing or tampering with evidence, or any number of other violations of basic ethical principles.
Your ideas about appropriate investigative and prosecutorial tactics are at odds with basic principles of ethics.
How is that substantively different from the way I put it?
You have argued that the correct legal interpretation of Mueller's authorization includes events not related to the Trump campaign
All you have described just now is what makes this scope expansion legitimate, he finds the trail, he can follow it. You didn't describe any boundary to stop these trails. Start with people in Trump's campaign, investigate them, find some crime unrelated to the campaign, and bingo, off to the races. If the person has relatives, they get swept in too, off to more races.
You have cited a few examples of investigations that you find are legitimately in the scope of DOJ Order 3915-2017, and most of those have absolutely nothing to do with the campaign. For all of those, you assert they are in the scope of authporization to Mueller.
So how exactly is "Mueller's authorization includes events not related to the Trump campaign" a misstatment of your position?
Another "Huh?"
(c) If the Special Counsel believes it is necessary and appropriate, the Special Counsel is authorized to prosecute federal crimes arising from the investigation of these matters.
Paying cash for a property up front is a common occurrence and taking out a mortgage afterwards is likely where the money for the next property purchase came from.
In fact, most convertible HELOC agreements include check writing privileges.
What does any of that have to do with Trump? You seem to be one of the few people around here who is generally worried that this investigation is going to go somewhere.
It IS going somewhere. I have an interested in the complex machinations and the way facts intertwine. I am interested in how felix sater has been allowed to go on criminal rampages as suggested by the lawyer of jody kriss in the racketeering case. I am not “worried” about anything. The money laundering chips will fall where they fall.
The problem here is that people are commenting without having read up on the family in question. For example..one daughter of manafort texted something about the other daughter and her husband. If you read the allegations and the story..you might think differently. Dustin Hofmann and his son sure do.
I stand corrected. I thought he had to refer it
>> U.S. intelligence leaking dirt on Sessions also <<
Do we know who is doing the leaking? I thought maybe the WH or one of its allies was now leaking in order to discredit Sessions.
I stand by post 59. He can follow any trail he finds as the Investigation proceeds. You claim this is not the case
We will see who ends up being right. We can already see that you claim he is already outside the scope...yet you aren’t privy to information and trails he is finding
We will see who is right
>> Zero need for anyone to flip; DJT has already blunted this when he openly floated the proposition of pardons <<
Even if the POTUS pardons Manafort, the action wouldn’t cover violations of New York state law. So the local DA in Manhattan might take up the case against Manafort.
How is money laundering by parties separate from Donald Trump and in activity not connected to Donald Trump’s campaign have any impact impact on any potential impeachment proceedings against the president for collusion with Russia I don’t think a Scooter Libby type case is going to make much difference in the grand scheme of things unless it can be shown that Trump did collude with Russia somehow, which even if the collusion existed may in fact not be illegal as pointed out by the likes of Alan Dershowitz. So I just don’t see where your head is on this thing.
This isn't a question of who is right as things progress, as if what he or the courts say is "right."
My argument is simply one of interpretation of DOJ Order 3915-2017.
Neither of us needs to know for a fact what Mueller is investigating in order to interpret that order. We have hypothetical cases in his jurisdiction based on news reports.
Your argument boils down to "If Mueller takes on a case, it is in his jurisdiction." You intend to prove your argument is the correct one by pointing to Mueller having taken the case.
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