By: baxleyjames
President Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman, Paul
Manafort has agreed to cooperate with Robert Mueller’s inquiry into the “alleged”
Russian interference of the 2016 election. Manafort signed a 17-page plea
agreement that stated he would assist government prosecutors with “any and all”
matters, and brief officials about “his participation in and knowledge of all
criminal activities”.
He also agreed to
turn over documents and testify in other
cases.
Along with his agreement, Manafort pleaded guilty to
conspiring to defraud the US and conspiring to obstruct justice in return for
other charges being dropped. His conspiracy to defraud the US involved money
laundering, tax fraud, failing to register as a foreign agent and lying to the
justice department, a court filing said.
So basically, Manafort is squealing like a rat because he’s
afraid of doing time. Had he pleaded “not guilty,” he probably would’ve gotten
a presidential pardon from Trump.
This was a win for Mr Mueller's investigation though
because this would be the first time his lawyers would have to present evidence
in a courtroom and convince a jury of their case. A defeat would be more than
an embarrassment, it would open the door for the president and his supporters
to call into question the value of the entire inquiry.
As campaign chairman, Manafort personally offered private
briefings about the campaign to the Russian industrialist Oleg Deripaska who he
owed close to $20 million, according to legal complaints Deripaska's lawyers
filed in the Cayman Islands and New York.
Manafort reportedly wrote an email to his associate, the
former Russian-Ukrainian intelligence operative Konstantin Kilimnik, offering
to give Deripaska "private briefings" about the campaign. Kilimnik
was indicted by Mueller this month.
Okay, Manafort screwed up but what does this have to do
with Trump? Trump never met with Deripaska.
Prior to joining Trump’s campaign, Manafort worked for
pro-Kremlin politicians and oligarchs in Ukraine. Prosecutors said the work
generated more than $60m in income and that Manafort laundered this through
shell companies and offshore accounts to avoid paying US taxes. He also lied
about the nature of the work when confronted by the justice department in 2016.
Again, what does this have to do with Trump?
Manafort also allegedly orchestrated a plan to smear a
Yanukovych domestic rival Yulia Tymoshenko, by disseminating “with no
fingerprints” allegations that Tymoshenko had paid for the murder of a
Ukrainian official. “My goal is to plant some stink on Tymo,” Manafort wrote in
a message.
He also allegedly schemed to have “Obama Jews” exert
pressure on Barack Obama’s administration to support Yanukovych and disavow Tymoshenko.
Manafort “allegedly” conspired with an Israeli government official to spread allegations
linking Tymoshenko to antisemitism. Manafort “allegedly” wrote in one message
to an unidentified associate: “I have someone pushing it on the NY Post. Bada
bing bada boom.”
In 2011, Manafort allegedly hired retired European
politicians to lobby on behalf of Yanukovych and paying them more than
$2.45mvia offshore accounts to discredit Tymoshenko.
Paul Manafort also approved a clandestine strategy to
discredit Tymoshenko abroad. Alan Friedman, a former Wall Street Journal and
Financial Times reporter, based in Italy, masterminded this project. He sent
Manafort a confidential six-page document titled Ukraine - A Digital Roadmap laying
out a plan to “deconstruct” Tymoshenko via videos, articles and social
media. “The social media space offers
great opportunities for guilt by association,” Friedman wrote in the document.
All these accusations are sound and reasonable reasons to
indict Manafort and send him to prison, but I have to ask again. What does this
have to do with Trump?
If convicted on all charges in Virginia, the 69-year-old
Manafort could reportedly be sentenced to a maximum of 305 years in prison. The
charges of bank fraud and bank fraud conspiracy (nine charges) each have a
maximum sentence of 30 years, which would equate to 270 years in prison.
Most importantly, this could serve as the lead example of
special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation.
In addition to any prison sentence he might receive,
Manafort also agreed to forfeit homes in Virginia and New York – including an
apartment in Trump Tower – and the funds from several bank accounts.
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