emptywheel: Mueller Just Guaranteed He Can Issue a Public Report

[babylonsister]

https://www.emptywheel.net/2018/11/26/manafort-tests-the-theory-of-an-unpardonable-plea/?fbclid=IwAR1lC4Lr1YLD0UyKNXk-LvNMIgoS-68B_QTVET9Sul0PPyUKPkDjFL6Kr74


Mueller Just Guaranteed He Can Issue a Public Report
November 26, 2018/by emptywheel

snip//

As I noted back in September, the standard the government has to prove to claim Manafort has breached his agreement is just “good faith,” as compared to preponderance of the evidence with Rick Gates.

With Gates, the standard the government has to prove to argue he has breached his agreement is preponderance of the evidence or, in case of committing a crime, probable cause. With Manafort, the government only has to prove “good faith.”

Now, it is true that Trump can pardon Manafort (though that probably won’t happen right away). That’s the only sane explanation for Manafort doing what he did, that he is still certain he’ll be pardoned. But many of these charges can still be charged in state court.

Just about the only explanation for Manafort’s actions are that — as I suggested — Trump was happy to have Manafort serve as a mole in Mueller’s investigation.

But Mueller’s team appears to have no doubt that Manafort was lying to them. That means they didn’t really need his testimony, at all. It also means they had no need to keep secrets — they could keep giving Manafort the impression that he was pulling a fast one over the prosecutors, all while reporting misleading information to Trump that he could use to fill out his open book test. Which increases the likelihood that Trump just submitted sworn answers to those questions full of lies.

And that “detailed sentencing submission … sett[ing] forth the nature of the defendant’s crimes and lies” that Mueller mentions in the report?

There’s your Mueller report, which will be provided in a form that Matt Whitaker won’t be able to suppress. (Reminder: Mueller included 38 pages of evidence along with Manafort’s plea agreement, which I argued showed how what Manafort and Trump did to Hillary was the same thing that Manafort had done to Yulia Tymoshenko.)

Update: I’ve tweaked this post since first posting it.



As I disclosed in July, I provided information to the FBI on issues related to the Mueller investigation, so I’m going to include disclosure statements on Mueller investigation posts from here on out. I will include the disclosure whether or not the stuff I shared with the FBI pertains to the subject of the post.

[Scurrilous]

1. K&R

[C_U_L8R]

2. Now that's some multi-dimensional chess right there.

I hope Trump fell for it.

[DUgosh]

3. The questions were about collusion

According to Giuliani

[Wellstone ruled]

4. This sucker would not now the truth if it hit him in the face.

The Guy has and will always be a Bullshit Artist . Hey he was a Numbers Runner for the Mob,and now people think he is lejit,not going to happen.

[orangecrush]

5. Grandmaster

[Glimmer of Hope]

6. I wonder how soon his sentencing hearing will take place and if the sentencing submission will be

made public. Ants in the pants.

[Glimmer of Hope]

7. Marcy just posted Mueller will likely submit two sentencing reports -- one for public consumption and

one that HJC can subpoena. Oh yea.

[babylonsister]

9. And the public is hungry! Excellent! nt

[FakeNoose]

8. Mueller has been playing 3D chess since Day One

... while Cheeto can barely manage a game of checkers with toadies who let him win.

[Pepsidog]

10. Sure hope this is true, you couldn't write a better ending with twists and turns.

[Takket]

11. Isn't manafort in jail? How could he talk to drumpf?

[babylonsister]

12. His new asst AG, Whittaker?

Or, it was all pre-planned, or as best as they could do being the imbeciles they are.

[Merlot]

13. Through his lawyers, plus he probaby is allowed visitors.

[Kitchari]

14. Criminals, entitled know-nothings

Thought they were pulling another fast one.