Manafort Suspected of Serving as Back Channel to Russia, DOJ Says

[MelissaB]

Source: Bloomberg

*Prosecutors defend Mueller’s actions in pursuing Manafort
*Judge weighing whether Mueller exceeded his authority

Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s interest in former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort stemmed in part from his suspected role as a “back channel” between the campaign and Russians intent on meddling in the election, a Justice Department lawyer told a judge.

The disclosure by U.S. prosecutors came Thursday during a hearing on whether Mueller exceeded his authority in indicting Manafort on charges of laundering millions of dollars while acting as an unregistered agent of the Ukrainian government. Manafort’s lawyers say those alleged crimes have nothing to do with Mueller’s central mission -- to determine whether anyone in the Trump campaign had links to the Russian government.

Defense attorney Kevin Downing argued anew to U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson in Washington that even Mueller’s appointment order permitting him to probe “any matters that arose or may arise directly from the investigation” wouldn’t cover the political consulting work that Manafort did in Ukraine for a decade.



Read more: https://www.bloomberg.com/amp/news/articles/2018-04-19/manafort-probed-as-back-channel-to-russia-u-s-lawyer-says?__twitter_impression=true

[unblock]

1. not clear on how this is a win for manafort even if this argument wins.

wouldn't that merely mean that mueller's charges would be dropped, but then some other federal prosecutor would take it up?


of course, it never bothered republicans that an affair with monica lewinsky had nothing to do with whitewater, but that's another story....

[titaniumsalute]

2. Isn't money laundering illegal?

I mean if he laundered money...and as far as I know that is illegal...then that is why he is being prosecuted among other things. Seems pretty cut and dry to me.

[Eliot Rosewater]

3. Dear god tell me the judge is not a sycophant.

Nope, Obama appointment.

She will follow the law to the letter

[getagrip_already]

4. a shocker..... not

Hearings are nothing scary. The defense made a motion, a hearing gets scheduled. Back and forth between defense and prosecution is normal, but the prosecution looks like it has mannafort in a box.

It would be very unusual for the judge to rule that muehler exceeded his authority. If rosenstein approved each stage of the investigation, then it's legit.

[LanternWaste]

5. It seems to me Rosenstein allowed Mueller the authority to exceed the Russia connection...

It seems to me Rosenstein's mandate of May 2017 allows Mueller the authority to exceed the Russia connection, and investigate *anything* that may arise from it.

"any links and/or coordination between the Russian government and individuals associated with the campaign of President Donald Trump, and any matters that arose or may arise directly from the investigation".

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/05/17/us/politics/document-Robert-Mueller-Special-Counsel-Russia.html

[groundloop]

6. Repubs sure didn't have any issues with Ken Starr investigating a blow job

I'd be really surprised if this ploy works for Manafort. And the double standard of repubs never ceases to amaze me - lie about a blow job and it's the end of the world; yet choose to ignore Russia interfering in our elections.

[Cosmocat]

7. they are full of shit, flat out

I have about a 2 minute window to watch Scarborough at any time, then have to not do it again for a months to ensure I don't throw the remote through our new flat screen.

But, earlier in the week he was prattling on about how the investigation was in places it shouldn't be, which is pretty GD rich, given when he was in congress he was all about the Ken Starr fishing expeditions ...

[notdarkyet]

8. And didnt the whitewater SC take about five years to find Monica to charge Clinton with lying?

Peanuts compared to what trump and his gang have done.

[calimary]

9. That's why I think IMPEACHMENT is vital this time.

A terrible precedent was set with Bill Clinton's impeachment - for lying about a blow job.

If a President can get impeached for lying about a blowjob, then the bar for impeachment is thus set ridiculously low. If that's true (and it IS) - and the next guy who comes along and lies (like the rest of us breathe) about EVERYTHING, on average once per sentence, cheats, schemes, behaves with no impulse control, is up to the Statue of Liberty's neck in scandals and corruption and crime - and is allowed to skate away, THEN WHAT THE HELL IS IMPEACHMENT EVEN FOR???