Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsEmptywheel: A Report Talking About "COLLUSION" Is Coming This Week From Mueller
THE CONCLUSORY REPORT IS NOT COMING NEXT WEEKBUT-
A REPORT TALKING ABOUT COLLUSION IS COMING THIS WEEK
............
....... As I noted back in November when Muellers prosecutors declared Manafort to have breached his plea agreement, this sentencing memo presents an opportunity for Mueller to report what theyve found at least with respect to all the criminal actions they know Manafort committed, including those he lied about while he was supposed to be cooperating without anyone at DOJ or the White House suppressing the most damning bits. DOJ wont be able to weigh in because a sentencing memo is not a major action requiring an urgent memo to the Attorney General. And the White House will get no advance warning because Big Dick Toilet Salesman Matt Whitaker is no longer in the reporting chain.
So, as noted, Mueller will have an opportunity to lay out:
The details of Manaforts sleazy influence peddling, including his modus operandi of projecting his own clients corruption onto his opponents
The fact that Manafort already pled guilty to conspiring with a suspected Russian intelligence asset
The details about how Manafort ostensibly working for free got paid in 2016, in part via kickbacks from a Super PAC that violated campaign finance law, possibly in part by Tom Barrack who was using Manafort and Trump as a loss-leader to Middle Eastern graft, and in part by deferred payments or debt relief from Russian-backed oligarchs
Manaforts role and understanding of the June 9 meeting, which is a prelude of sorts to the August 2 one
The dates and substance of Manaforts ongoing communications with suspected Russian intelligence asset Konstantin Kilimnik, including the reasons why Manafort shared highly detailed polling data on August 2, 2016 that he knew would be passed on to his paymasters who just happened to be (in the case of Oleg Deripaska) a central player in the election year operation
The ongoing efforts to win Russia relief from the American Ukrainian-related sanctions by pushing a peace plan that would effectively give Russia everything it wants
Manaforts ongoing discussions with Trump and the Administration, up to and including discussions laying out how if Manafort remains silent about items two through six, Trump will pardon him
Because those items are all within the substance of the crimes Manafort pled guilty to or lied about during his failed cooperation, theyre all squarely within the legitimate content of a sentencing memo. And we should expect the sentencing memo in DC to be at least as detailed as the EDVA one; I expect it, like the EDVA one and like Manaforts plea deal, will be accompanied by exhibits such as the EDVA one showing that Manafort had bank accounts to the tune of $25,704,669.72 for which suspected Russian intelligence asset Konstantin Kilimnik was listed as a beneficial owner in 2012. Heck, we might even get to see the polling data Manafort shared, knowing it was going to Russia, which was an exhibit to Manaforts breach determination.
The only thing limiting how much detail well get about these things (as well as about how Manafort served as a secret agent of Russian backed Ukrainian oligarchs for years) is the ongoing sensitivities of the material, whether because its grand jury testimony, SIGINT collection, or a secret Mueller intends to spring on other defendants down the road.
Its the latter point that will be most telling. As I noted, thus far, the silences about Manaforts cooperation are amazingly even more provocative than the snippets we learned via the breach determination. Well likely get a read on Friday whether Mueller has ongoing equities that would lead him to want to keep these details secret. And the only thing that would lead Mueller to keep details of the conspiracy secret is if he plans to charge it in an overarching conspiracy indictment.
We may also get information, however, that will make it far more difficult for Trump to pardon Manafort.
So, yeah, theres a report coming out this week. But its not The Report.
MOTR:
Link to tweet
https://www.emptywheel.net/2019/02/20/questions-to-ask-before-reporting-a-breaking-mueller-report/
*********
from today:
Link to tweet
https://www.emptywheel.net/2019/02/20/the-significance-of-the-rod-rosenstein-bill-barr-window/
InfoView thread info, including edit history
TrashPut this thread in your Trash Can (My DU » Trash Can)
BookmarkAdd this thread to your Bookmarks (My DU » Bookmarks)
4 replies, 1896 views
ShareGet links to this post and/or share on social media
AlertAlert this post for a rule violation
PowersThere are no powers you can use on this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
ReplyReply to this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
Rec (34)
ReplyReply to this post
4 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight:
NoneDon't highlight anything
5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Emptywheel: A Report Talking About "COLLUSION" Is Coming This Week From Mueller (Original Post)
kpete
Feb 2019
OP
CNN also reporting that the DOJ will make an announcement regarding this.
Claritie Pixie
Feb 2019
#3
watoos
(7,142 posts)1. So the emptywheel is a better source than CNN,
I can believe that.
Maybe the new Fox girl hired by CNN is behind CNN's oops headline?
DownriverDem
(6,206 posts)2. What about Barr
won't he give trump the heads up?
Claritie Pixie
(2,199 posts)3. CNN also reporting that the DOJ will make an announcement regarding this.
That sounds definitive, hopefully they'll give context.
Ongoing investigations will not be in the report.
Individuals who have not yet been indicted will not be in the report.
bluescribbler
(2,105 posts)4. Get the popcorn ready.
Fire up the DVR for Rachel Maddow and Lawrence O'Donnell.