Why Manafort lied to Mueller? He thought he could get away with it.

[Stuart G]

....It is that simple. He was absolutely sure that Mueller wouldn't figure it out, and that he, Manafort, was smarter than Mueller. Manafort had to believe that. Where did he get that thinking?..Your guess is as good as mine, but perhaps an idea. Manafort was the head of Trump's campaign..Is that correct?..Then he was in charge of the lies put out by that campaign. And he got away with it. The campaign elected Trump as President. That is even more important. He got away with the lies during the campaign, and never had to answer for them, because he won and was protected by Trump. So what difference is another lie? to Mueller? So what?...He won't figure it out..(that had to be his thinking) He, Manafort, (in his thinking) will outsmart Mueller. That is why he lied. It had to be the reason.
....What Manafort was so stupid about was one simple idea. That idea is that Mueller had spent his entire career figuring out who was telling the truth and who was lying. That Manafort could NOT get away with lying to Mueller is something Manafort should have known. So now Manafort will be in jail for the rest of his life. (probably) Not only for what he did originally, but lying to Mueller as well.

[Claritie Pixie]

1. What makes a criminal a criminal?

It's difficult for decent, law-abiding people to understand the mentality but yes, the rush from getting away with it is probably better than any drug. Most criminals get caught eventually because they can't stop.

[Stuart G]

3. Good Point..thank you..If Manafort got a rush from getting away with his lies,

than he can tell more lies. So what, Mueller won't know. I will get away with it, it will be another "rush." Maybe that is part of it. Or maybe Manafort assumed that Mueller was really not so smart. And couldn't tell a lie from the truth. Maybe that was part of it. Or maybe Manafort thought that since he got away with so many lies during the campaign, that what the hell, a few more lies won't hurt. Maybe that is part of it. Perhaps we will find out, and perhaps we won't. It won't matter, because Mueller found out. That is what matters.

[exboyfil]

2. The fact he was attempting

to influence other witnesses using a method that was easily tracked should have clued everyone that he is not the sharpest knife in the drawer.

[Stuart G]

6. Yes, I agree, and I like your analogy. But I have another. He was a very low watt bulb.

Maybe a 10 watt or 8 watt. Not very bright. Quite dull using your reference.

[Cary]

4. Unindicted Co-Conspirator surrounds himself with the best

It will all come out. We will know all and justice will be served.

[Cary]

5. And yes this man is an absolute moron

They all are morons. And they're all assholes.

[gratuitous]

7. Also, Manafort has never seen the movie "Body Heat"

"In any crime, there's 50 ways to screw up. If you can think of 25 of them, you're a genius, and you ain't no genius."

Unlike, say, a sports referee who has to make a bang-bang call in real time (not so applicable in this age of consulting the instant replay), a prosecutor has all the luxury of looking at the evidence, looking at it again, gathering more evidence, and going back and talking to witnesses a second or third time with the knowledge of this additional evidence. Some small slip-up by the perpetrator might get glossed over once or twice, but sooner or later someone's going to be reviewing the file and the timeline and notice any discrepancies.

[rurallib]

8. Manafort is nearing 70 and has been getting away with it all his life

IIRC before connecting with the Russians he was multi-millions in debt.

But he has slimed and slipped his way in and out of stick spots from the get-go. Why would he not think he couldn't pull off one more trick, this one a big one.

Plus if it didn't work, probably no one would follow up - nobody goes after their opponent after an election. If they win, then Manafort probably has some sort of a promise of a pardon from Trump to bail his ass out.

What could go wrong?

[EleanorR]

9. Add him to the list of liars-Flynn, Gates, Papadopoulos...

I think they fear the Russians, are trying to waste Mueller's time and muddy the waters as much as possible, and, in Manafort's case, expect a pardon.

[maxsolomon]

10. John Heilemann on MSNBC last night had a good point:

In Russia, or Russia-dominated former Soviets, this is how things work. You never have to pay for lies, except through bribery.

And that's where Manafort's been operating for the last 10+ years.