Ask the right questions.

[Chichiri]

Q: What had Paul Manafort already procured, that he jeopardized by lying?
A: A reduced sentence.

Q: Why would you jeopardize something you have already procured?
A: Because you are trying to get something even better.

Q: What's better than a reduced sentence?
A: No sentence.

Q: How does a felon get no sentence?
A: Immunity, or a pardon.

Q: Does Mueller do immunity?
A: Doubtful.

Q: How does one procure a pardon?
A: By gaining the favor of Trump.

Q: In what way did Manafort seek to do this?
A: He lied.

Q: What effect does lying have?
A: It conceals the facts.

Q: When might concealing the facts gain someone's favor?
A: When the facts pose a threat to that person.

Q: How can a person be threatened?
A: By threat to their safety, to their livelihood, to their liberty, or to their reputation.

Q: Can Trump's safety be threatened?
A: No; he has the Secret Service.

Q: Can Trump's livelihood be threatened?
A: No; his net worth, even if exaggerated, is considerable.

Q: Can Trump's liberty be threatened?
A: Not while he is President.

Q: Can Trump's reputation be threatened?
A: Yes, if he has committed an act so egregious, and for which the evidence is so compelling, that even his base abandons him.

Q: What would the effect of such an abandonment be?
A: It would jeopardize the two things he seems to hold in highest regard: his ego, and his Presidency.

Q: If his Presidency is jeopardized, can Trump's liberty then be threatened?
A: Yes, if he has broken the law.

Q: Therefore, putting it all together, what is Manafort hiding?
A: That Trump has committed acts that disqualify him from being President -- even as far as his base is concerned.

Q: What are those acts?