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Paul Manafort Tag

Posted by William A. Jacobson on May 05, 2018 43 Comments
We reported on Friday about the hearing in federal court in Virginia regarding Paul Manafort's request to have his criminal indictment and case dismissed because it was beyond the jurisdiction of Special Counsel Robert Mueller to prosecute. Statements made by the judge during the hearing generated a lot of news, Manafort Judge: Mueller only really cares about the “prosecution or impeachment” of Trump. See that post for the details on the news reports of the hearing, plus my explanation of why Mueller is exceeding his authority.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on May 04, 2018 84 Comments
Almost since the day Robert Mueller was appointed, I have been pointing out that Mueller has gone rogue and is employing a scorched earth strategy to get Trump, on anything. The Paul Manafort prosecution on things having nothing to do with the reason Mueller was appointed, alleged Russia collusion, is a good example, as was the prosecution of Michael Flynn. There will be bodies left on Mueller's battlefield from those unfortunate enough to have associated with Trump or the campaign.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on May 03, 2018 39 Comments
There was an interesting filing recently by Paul Manafort in the prosecution by Robert Mueller's team against him in the Eastern District of Virginia. The filing concerned leaks reported in the media that were attributed by the media to government sources. Some of those media reports alleged Manafort contact with Russians. Manafort file a Motion (pdf.)(full embed at bottom) seeking a court hearing to get to the bottom of the leaks.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on April 05, 2018 43 Comments
I was a guest on the Mark Levin Show on Wednesday evening, April 4, 2018. The topic was my post, Rosenstein Memo confirming Mueller could investigate Manafort came a week after raid on Manafort’s home. We also covered related topics such as Manafort's attempt to get the case against him thrown out, and whether Donald Trump should agree to an in-person interview with Mueller.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on April 03, 2018 54 Comments
Paul Manafort has moved to have the October 27, 2017 Indictment, and subsequent Superseding Indictment, dismissed on the ground, among others, that Robert Mueller has exceeded the authority granted him on May 17, 2017, when he was appointed by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. The argument is that the indictment of Manafort for business dealings is unrelated to and took place years before 2016 Russian election interference and alleged collusion.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on February 22, 2018 34 Comments
Paul Manafort made a tragic life decision when he agreed to serve as Trump's campaign manager during the primaries, mostly because of his expertise in working delegates in floor fights. He just didn't know it at the time. Because Manafort was associated with the Trump campaign, he has come under the watch of Robert Mueller.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on January 03, 2018 55 Comments
One of the concerns about the appointment of Robert Mueller as special counsel is that from the get go his investigation has appeared to go far afield of the "Russia collusion" that was the basis for his appointment. I made this point in an earlier post with regard to the guilty plea of Michael Flynn for lying with regard to post-election transition matters, Why is Robert Mueller even investigating the presidential transition?

Posted by Mary Chastain on December 05, 2017 32 Comments
Judicial Watch released emails from the Department of Justice today and some of them showed support for former Acting Attorney General Sally Yates when she refused to support President Donald Trump's travel restrictions from some Middle East countries. It sounds like no big deal, right? Well, it turns out one of the supporters is Special Counsel Robert Mueller's Deputy Andrew Weissman. He is one of the top prosecutors in Mueller's investigation into possible collusion between Trump's campaign and Russia.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on December 01, 2017 54 Comments
Today was another spectacular speculative day on Twitter and in the media due to Michael Flynn's guilty plea to one count of lying to the FBI regarding Flynn's communications with the Russian Ambassador in late December 2016. A somewhat moribund Russia-collusion conspiracy community sprang back to life instantaneously.The treason-choir found its voice again. Pundits speculated endlessly about what it all means -- in a distinctly binary manner: Trump is a gonner, or it's a big nothing burger.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on December 01, 2017 59 Comments
As predicted, Robert Mueller's investigation was more likely to find process crimes, such as making false statements to federal investigators, or crimes unrelated to alleged Russia collusion, than crimes related to actual collusion. Mueller just charged Michael Flynn with lying to the FBI during a January 2017 interview (which predated Mueller) about conversations with the Russian ambassador in late December 2016, during the transition. Media reports are blurring this timeline, implying it was during the campaign.

Posted by Mary Chastain on November 10, 2017 20 Comments
In March, I blogged about a report in The Wall Street Journal, in which former CIA Director James Moosley claimed he attended a meeting with former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn and Turkish Foreign Ministers to discuss removing Fehtullah Gulen, a Turkish cleric living in Pennsylvania. This meeting happened when Flynn worked on Trump's presidential transition team. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has blamed Gulen for numerous "coups" that have taken place. Now that alleged plan between Flynn and the Turks has come under investigation by Special Counsel Robert Mueller.

Posted by Mary Chastain on November 08, 2017 8 Comments
A judge has issued a gag order in the case of former President Donald Trump chairman Paul Manafort and his protege Rick Gates. From Politico:
U.S. District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson's directive Wednesday doesn't ban such statements outright, but prohibits any remarks that "pose a substantial likelihood of material prejudice to this case."

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on November 05, 2017 25 Comments
Earlier this week, Professor Jacobson noted that Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation is focused on process crimes and other things unrelated to the purpose of the Trump campaign-Russia collusion investigation. He wrote:
So I’ve had to watch several news cycles without being able to jump in. One of those cycles was the indictment of Paul Manafort and the guilty plea disclosure for George Papadopoulos. Certainly this is not the end of the Mueller investigation story, but so far, it’s proceeding as predicted: Rounding up the usual suspects close to Trump and process crimes.

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on November 04, 2017 77 Comments
One of the mainstays of then-candidate Trump's campaign rallies was the attendees' "lock her up" chant, a reaction to his campaign promise to "jail crooked Hillary" Clinton. In late November of last year, President Trump shocked many of his supporters by announcing that he would not pursue charges against Hillary Clinton.  Instead, he said he was focused on bringing the country together and helping Hillary "heal." The Guardian reported at the time:
The president-elect told the New York Times on Tuesday that it would be “divisive” to pursue criminal investigations into the former secretary of state over her use of a private email server or conflicts of interest involving her foundation. His conciliatory tone provoked a backlash from some conservatives. “I don’t want to hurt the Clintons, I really don’t,” Trump said, according to a tweet by Times journalist Mike Grynbaum. “She went through a lot and suffered greatly in many different ways.”

Posted by William A. Jacobson on November 01, 2017 26 Comments
Sorry I've been mostly absent the past week. The Vassar meltdown threw me for a loop. I devoted much more time getting ready for the lecture due to the campus hysteria, and have had to devote more time than expected after the event starting the process of addressing the malicious lies spread about me by people who seem to care little for the truth.
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