#manafort convicted

Mueller needs to make an example of Manafort — by seeking the maximum sentence on each conviction. #LawAndOrder

Never forget:

Manafort was working with former Russian GRU Intelligence Officer  Konstantin Kilimnik while he was Trump’s Campaign Manager

Manafort continued working with the Russians while he was ‘co-operating’ with the Mueller investigation. Including former Russian intelligence officer Victor Boyarkin on behalf of Russian Oligarch Oleg Deripaska

Manafort was working with Trump’s lawyers including Rudy Giuliani while he was ‘co-operating’ with the Mueller investigation

Manafort is still bound by what he agreed to in the plea, so he will not be able to retract his guilty pleas. But the finding frees Mueller's office from its contractual obligations in the plea, like asking for a reduced sentence for him because of his cooperation.

Mueller spokesman Peter Carr declined to comment.

Manafort's lawyers have maintained that he did not intentionally lie.  😏

Another Republican gets called out by a strong woman, Judge Amy Berman Jackson.

Jackson's ruling is another stunning turn in Mueller's efforts to uncover Russian interference in the 2016 election, as the first man the special counsel indicted then pursued as a potential cooperator for a year sees the end of any benefits he tried to gain through a guilty plea.

Manafort was convicted of various financial crimes in August, and then cut the deal to plead guilty to two charges of conspiracy and witness tampering in September.

In all, Jackson determined Manafort intentionally lied about $125,000 he received for the legal bills, about another unnamed Justice Department criminal investigation and about his interactions with his longtime Russian associate Konstantin Kilimnik while he was campaign chairman and later.

Jackson noted twice in her order that two of the topics Paul Manafort lied about, Kilimnik and payments he received for his legal bills were "material to the investigation."

“Think about what this story is telling us about how far this country has fallen in respect for the law. Prosecutors are forced to work around the president of the United States in order to get justice against a proven criminal. How did we get here?”, Finklefaye Houston, Texas 

Mr. Manafort is scheduled to be sentenced next month for convictions in two federal cases brought by Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller III. He faces up to 25 years in prison for tax and bank fraud and additional time for conspiracy counts in a related case. It could effectively be a life sentence for Mr. Manafort, who turns 70 in April.  🎂

The president has broad power to issue pardons for federal crimes, but no such authority in state cases. And while there has been no clear indication that Mr. Trump intends to pardon Mr. Manafort, the president has spoken repeatedly of his pardon power and defended his former campaign chairman on a number of occasions, calling him a “brave man.”

Any charges brought by Mr. Vance’s office would likely be challenged on double jeopardy grounds. New York state law includes stronger protections than those provided by the United States Constitution, and Mr. Manafort’s defense team is likely to challenge any state charges. But prosecutors in Mr. Vance’s office have expressed confidence that they would prevail, people with knowledge of the matter said.

this is the worst hour of Trump's entire presidency--no, make that entire life

— Norm Eisen‏  @NormEisen - Aug 21, 2018

Was Giuliani telling Manafort that Trump would pardon him if he didn’t flip?

In an interview with Politico, Giuliani said that Trump’s legal team and Manafort’s have a joint defense agreement that allows them to share confidential information with one another.

“All during the investigation we have an open communication with them,” he said. “Defense lawyers talk to each other all the time where as long as our clients authorize it therefore we have a better idea of what’s going to happen. That’s very common.”

From Politico

And Paul Manafort. #TrumpNext

Cohen was apparently a fan of encrypted communications apps like WhatsApp and Signal, but those tools failed to keep his messages and calls out of sight from investigators. In June, prosecutors said in a court filing the FBI had obtained 731 pages of messages and call logs from those apps from Cohen’s phones. Investigators also managed to reconstruct at least 16 pages of physically shredded documents.

Those logs, judging by the charging document, appear to have helped document at least Cohen’s communications with officials at the National Enquirer about allegations from porn actress Stormy Daniels—whom Cohen allegedly paid on behalf of Trump, violating campaign finance law. It’s unclear if the FBI actually broke through any layers of encryption to get the data. It’s possible that Cohen, who apparently at times taped conversations, stored the conversation logs in a less-than-secure way.

Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, himself found guilty of eight counts of federal offenses yesterday, also saw his encrypted WhatsApp and Telegram communications brought up in court over alleged witness tampering. Those messages appeared to have been found through Manafort’s Apple iCloud account.

Paul Manafort has been found guilty and Michael Cohen has plead guilty.

Donald Trump is going to shit enough bricks to build his stupid wall.

— Middle Age Riot‏ @middleageriot - Aug 21, 2018

45 spending every hour building The Wall

The key words in the plea deal are cooperating in "any and all matters". All matters including:

Roger Stone who Manafort has known since college and worked for since Stone was 24 yrs old #RichardNixon

Manafort has known Donald J Trump since the 1980′s through Stone

Roger Stone recommended Trump hire Manafort

Cambridge Analytica: Jared Kushner and Manafort hired Cambridge. This was before Steve Bannon joined Trump. And before Robert Mercer and Rebekah Mercer began financing Trump’s campaign.

Russian Oligarchs - too many

Why he helped change the GOP platform to be PRO Russian

Jeff Sessions and Michael Flynn involvement with Russians

Trump Tower meeting with Russians - Manafort attended with Donald Trump Jr and Jared Kushner *** Hillary’s emals

Back channel to Russia and Putin

...

According to reporting, Manafort has already provided information to federal investigators – part of the ongoing probe by Special Counsel Robert Mueller about alleged Russian interference in the 2016 elections.

According to Andrew Prokop at Vox.com:

It’s enormously important news for the Russia investigation. Many have long speculated that the special counsel’s main aim in charging Manafort with financial and lobbying crimes was to pressure him to "flip" — so he'd agree to provide information related to their true concern of whether the Trump campaign conspired with Russia to interfere with the election.

Now, it's happened. And that should make President Donald Trump very nervous indeed.

Never forget

Paul Manafort is a CONVICTED FELON: guilty of money laundering, tax fraud, failing to report foreign bank accounts, violating rules requiring registration of foreign agents, lying and witness tampering. 

#TickTock