Manafort to appear in Virginia court in bid to have fraud charges dismissed

[DonViejo]

Source: The Washington Post




By Rachel Weiner May 4 at 6:00 AM

Prosecutors investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election will appear in a Virginia court Friday to argue for the charges against former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort.

Manafort is seeking to have bank and tax fraud charges against him dismissed in federal court in Alexandria, arguing that the alleged crimes having nothing to do with the election or with President Trump.

He has filed similar motions in D.C. federal court, where he faces charges of money laundering, making false statements, failing to follow lobbying disclosure laws and working as an unregistered foreign agent.

Lawyers working for special counsel Robert S. Mueller III have in response revealed some details of the secretive probe, including portions of a memorandum authorizing Mueller to investigate whether Manafort illegally coordinated with Russia in 2016.

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/manafort-to-appear-in-virginia-court-in-bid-to-have-fraud-charges-dismissed/2018/05/03/c3b0acb0-4ca2-11e8-b725-92c89fe3ca4c_story.html

[kysrsoze]

1. My only reaction to this:

[Leghorn21]

2. My only reaction to this:

[RandySF]

3. Who is paying his legal bills?

[emulatorloo]

5. Good question. They are getting a bad deal because his lawyers are shitty.

[Wwcd]

4. I believe when Mueller was hired, his findings included any & all criminal activity.

His findings were broad and criminal activity included anything related to or NOT related to Trump.
I don't see how any of this gets dropped.
Hasn't PM been under investigation long before he was involved with Trump?

I think Lawrence Tribe had a piece on Manafort awhile back.
Manafort's criminal activity with Trump just adds to the list they already have on him.

[emulatorloo]

7. You are correct. From an older article

Justice official authorized Mueller to investigate whether Trump campaign chair colluded with Russia

By Spencer S. Hsu and Rosalind S. Helderman April 3

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/justice-official-authorized-mueller-to-investigate-whether-trump-campaign-chair-colluded-with-russia/2018/04/03/ffa78ac4-3738-11e8-acd5-35eac230e514_story.html?utm_term=.7d16eca66e09

The new filings show that Rosenstein specifically approved lines of investigation for the special counsel in an August 2017 memo. A version of the memo filed in court showed that Rosenstein signed off on an investigation of whether Manafort “committed a crime or crimes by colluding with Russian government officials” and of Manafort’s work as an international political consultant in Ukraine before joining Trump’s campaign.

[Wwcd]

9. Yes this! Thanks emulatorloo

So much news passes by quickly. Key pieces like this reinforces the fact that we are NOT losing our minds.

So basically Manafort's request is theater.

[barbtries]

6. you go where the investigation leads you.

manafort exposed himself when he signed up for the campaign. i'll be disgusted if he prevails in this argument.

[emulatorloo]

8. Mueller was authorized by Rosenstein to investigate Manafort's antics in the Ukraine

and Mueller has provided the supporting documentation. So sounds like Manafort doesn’t have a leg to stand on.

[angrychair]

10. How does this make you innocent??

When your argument is process, not content, you are guilty.

They know they will lose but this is really meant to establish an appeal on process.

[jmowreader]

11. Have I got this right?

Bank fraud and tax fraud committed as part of Trump's election campaign: very bad, prosecutable offenses.

Bank fraud and tax fraud committed for your own personal ends: perfectly fine things to do.

[OliverQ]

12. The Judge was actually really hard on Dreeben and could actually dismiss these charges.

[barbtries]

13. yep.

a Reagan-appointed old white man. sounds like he's joined the cult and forgot why he's a judge.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

14. Some perspective:

Occasionally lifetime appointment makes judges feel able to tell big truths: prosecutors charge crimes they normally wouldn’t to flip defendants against the people they want.

Link to tweet

Retweeted by LoomingCrisisHat: https://twitter.com/Popehat

Judge Ellis really taking it to the special counsel: “In a time honored practice [of prosecutors] which I’m fully familiar with ... you can tighten the screws and they can provide information in what you’re really interested in. That appears to be what’s happening here.”

Link to tweet

More from the Judge:
"You don't really care about Mr. Manafort's bank fraud," Judge Ellis said to prosecutor Michael Dreeben. Ellis said they were interested in Manafort because of his potential to provide material that would lead to Trump's "prosecution or impeachment.”

Link to tweet