Jump to content

Manafort Trial

Grandioso

By Grandioso
in Cloak Room

 Share

Recommended Posts

  • Replies 1.4k
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Popular Days

Top Posters In This Topic

Popular Days

Popular Posts

retread
retread
Hugo Stiglitz
Hugo Stiglitz
Chooky
Chooky

If Mueller completes this investigation leaving no doubt of criminal activity from this administration while at the same time paying for %80 of it with seized cash from Russian money laundering scheme

DDD Dad

DDD Dad 14,571

Posted
Posted
9 minutes ago, Hugo Stiglitz said:

How exactly would Trump work the Manafort pardon?

Would he pardon just the charges in trial 1?

If he pardons for the crimes in trial 2, Trump would also have to pardon the GRU officer indicted with Manafort.  I’m sure that would go over well.

I’m sure Trump has thought all this through tho.

Why would he have to pardon the GRU officer?

Also, if he pardons before the trial, I guess he'll have to issue a second pardon thereafter when Manafort is held in contempt for refusing to testify after no longer having the 5th amendment right against self-incrimination.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
SuingToGetAMessageBoard?

SuingToGetAMessageBoard? 3,861

Posted
Posted
9 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

We've only gotten dumber.

MAGA! Lock her up, lock her up!

Your incessant refrain is consistent in every way, including the fact that it relies on nothing objective.

 

Anti-Trump opinions are solidified and will stay that way short of (1) continued economic miracle through 2020 in which case Trump may very well deserve reelection or (2) a perfectly timed terrorist attack that causes a GWB effect.  Short of that, Trump's negatives are here to stay.  And you cannot be elected with Trump's negatives.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Brisketexan

Brisketexan 106,625

Posted
Posted
Just now, SuingToGetAMessageBoard? said:

Your incessant refrain is consistent in every way, including the fact that it relies on nothing objective.

 

Anti-Trump opinions are solidified and will stay that way short of (1) continued economic miracle through 2020 in which case Trump may very well deserve reelection or (2) a perfectly timed terrorist attack that causes a GWB effect.  Short of that, Trump's negatives are here to stay.  And you cannot be elected with Trump's negatives.  

Bolded -- because American politics today relies on nothing objective.  Not only are facts out of vogue, they are the enemy of political thought.  Truth is fighting a losing battle.

“A lie will go round the world while truth is pulling its boots on.”  

Facts and the truth are hopelessly behind.  They can't catch up.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
burntorangebongos

burntorangebongos 10,809

Posted
Posted

False news is spread faster. Online media advertising gets more money by greater number of clicks. De-incentivise the value of false news to social media companies and media outlets. People won't stop spreading gossip so its the only way to curb the bullshit and give truth a chance. Truth is important to our republic, it turns out. Wow, who knew?

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Hugo Stiglitz

Hugo Stiglitz 23,367

Posted
Posted (edited)

Manafort’s defense team held talks with prosecutors to resolve a second set of charges against the former Trump campaign chairman before he was convicted last week, but they didn’t reach a deal, and the two sides are now moving closer to a second trial next month, according to people familiar with the matter.

The plea discussions occurred as a Virginia jury was spending four days deliberating tax and bank fraud charges against Mr. Manafort, the people said. That jury convicted him on eight counts and deadlocked on 10 others. Prosecutors accused Mr. Manafort of avoiding taxes on more than $16 million he earned in the early 2010s through political consulting work in Ukraine.

The plea talks on the second set of charges stalled over issues raised by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, one of the people said. It isn’t clear what those issues were, and the proposed terms of the plea deal couldn’t immediately be determined.

Representatives for Messrs. Manafort and Mueller declined to comment.

The talks were aimed at forestalling a second, related trial for Mr. Manafort, which is scheduled to begin on Sept. 17 in Washington.

Prosecutors and defense lawyers have been arguing over how to describe that case to the jury and what evidence can be presented at trial. They are scheduled to discuss those issues at a hearing Tuesday morning before U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson.

Mr. Manafort faced two separate trials on related allegations in neighboring districts because he declined to let prosecutors combine the charges into one case. From a defense perspective, such a move can force prosecutors to fight two battles and divide resources.

The plea discussions on the Washington case represent a softening in posture for Mr. Manafort, who has fought charges brought by Mr. Mueller’s 15-month investigation longer and more aggressively than other defendants in the probe.

Three other former Trump campaign aides, including former Manafort business associate Richard Gates, pleaded guilty to lying to investigators and other crimes not core to Mr. Mueller’s mandate of examining Russian interference in the 2016 election. Twenty-five Russians have also been charged with hacking and other crimes. Moscow denies any election meddling.

The Virginia indictment charged Mr. Manafort with filing false tax returns between 2010 and 2014 and misleading multiple U.S. banks to obtain millions of dollars in loans in 2016, after his Ukraine income allegedly dried up.

Prosecutors have said the tax fraud charges against Mr. Manafort could result in a prison term of eight to 10 years, but some other tax-related sentences have fallen well below that.

 

U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis, who oversaw Mr. Manafort’s Virginia case, last year sentenced a retired business school professor to seven months after he pleaded guilty to hiding $220 million in foreign accounts and not paying $18 million in federal and state taxes.

Unlike Mr. Manafort, that defendant had previously paid a $100 million penalty to the U.S. Treasury and cooperated in the investigation.

After Mr. Manafort’s Virginia conviction last week, a juror said the vote on the other 10 counts was 11-1 in favor of conviction. The juror, a self-described Trump supporter, told Fox News the evidence was “overwhelming,” and that the other jurors had tried to convince the lone holdout to switch her vote. 

Prosecutors have until Wednesday to report whether they plan to retry Mr. Manafort on the deadlocked counts. For now, both sides appear to be preparing for the Washington trial.

In that case, prosecutors accuse Mr. Manafort of not registering in the U.S. for his lobbying work for the Ukrainian government between 2008 and 2014, and of conspiring to launder millions of dollars in income from that work to hide it from U.S. authorities.

In June, prosecutors added charges accusing Mr. Manafort of trying to influence the testimony of potential witnesses. That prompted Judge Jackson to send Mr. Manafort to jail as he awaited trial. 

In a filing late Friday, prosecutors said they expected to take 10 to 12 days to present their case. Last week they turned over to Mr. Manafort’s team more than 1,500 exhibits they plan to present.

Manafort’s attorneys said they weren’t sure if they would present a defense, but if they did, it could take three or four days. They said they were in the process of identifying expert witnesses who could testify on money-laundering and foreign-lobbying registration rules.

 

Edited by Hugo Stiglitz
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Tuco

Tuco 5,093

Posted
Posted

Pardoning Manafort is only crazy if you think 1) he won’t flip or 2) he doesn’t have evidence that would result in Trump’s removal. If you think he’ll flip and bury Trump, pardoning him is the only logical course of action, regardless of how damaging it might be. These “leaks” out of the White House may just be spin to make it look impulsive instead of necessary.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Gil Bang

Gil Bang 26,176

Posted
Posted
23 hours ago, Tuco said:

Pardoning Manafort is only crazy if you think 1) he won’t flip or 2) he doesn’t have evidence that would result in Trump’s removal. If you think he’ll flip and bury Trump, pardoning him is the only logical course of action, regardless of how damaging it might be. These “leaks” out of the White House may just be spin to make it look impulsive instead of necessary.

If you pardon him now, he can't take the 5th.  If you get word to him that a pardon's coming down the road, he can clam up

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Hugo Stiglitz

Hugo Stiglitz 23,367

Posted
Posted

Judge is taking a short break, here's what's happened so far: 

- Prospective jurors in DC will not be asked if they voted in 2016 (Manafort's lawyers wanted that) but will be told they may hear about people involved in the Trump campaign, and asked if they have views on that

- Prospective jurors will not only be asked about what they know about the case, but also, at the judge's suggestion, if they've personally posted about Manafort or the case on social media

- The judge will close the courtroom for jury questioning, finding it's needed given the high level of public/media interest in the case and the need to accommodate jurors and protect their privacy. In Virginia, they did it with the husher on, so we could watch, but not hear

Manafort's lawyers asked to push back the trial, scheduled to start 9/17, by a week, noting they just finished in EDVA a week ago. Govt objected. Judge compromised -- jury selection will start 9/17, but they won't get to openings and evidence until 9/24

Manafort's lawyers also told the judge they plan to file a motion this week asking to change the venue for trial, noting the judge's own stated concerns about pretrial publicity and the length of the trial potentially complicating jury selection

The judge said she'd consider whatever they file, but said the goal of the juror questionnaire is to try to get a fair jury. Judge asked where they'd want to go. Manafort's lawyer Richard Westling said they weren't sure, but wanted to make a record on the issue

What's next in Manafort's DC case? Venue change motion is due tomorrow.  There's a hearing set for 9/5, when they'll discuss motions in limine (re: what evidence/arguments they can put on at trial), and then another one set for 9/12 when they'll discuss any exhibit issues

There was some noticeable tension from the defense side about the amount of time to prepare for the next trial. The judge noted that people (she didn't name names) were "very expressive" in the courtroom and warned that won't be okay once the jury is in

In case you're curious, the rules in the DC federal courthouse are very different from Alexandria. Phones and computers are allowed, there's wifi, and reporters can use devices inside the courthouse (not in the courtroom, but there will be a media room with a video feed)

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Hugo Stiglitz

Hugo Stiglitz 23,367

Posted
Posted (edited)
36 minutes ago, Chuckie Finster said:


Oh boy, this will be like Christmas if it takes out O’Keefe too.

Makes me think prosecutors are looking to expose how Manafort is an active measures mastermind on the propaganda and foreign influence side.  

Most people have no idea how good he is at orchestrating political disinformation campaigns online.  I hope they get into his ability to utilize the technologies too. 

Story from May 2017

Ukrainians Say FBI Questioning Them About Paul Manafort’s Past

https://www.thedailybeast.com/ukrainians-say-fbi-questioning-them-about-manafortat-last

 

KIEV—The Ukrainian parliamentarian Mustafa Nayyem says the FBI has come to him at last, asking about Paul Manafort, who had a long record as a political operative serving pro-Russian figures here before he became the campaign manager for Donald Trump last year.

Nayyem and other Ukrainian officials say they are not only willing to cooperate with the FBI, they have been trying to do that for years, but only recently did American law enforcement show any interest.

[snip]

So when the FBI met with Nayyem here a few weeks ago to ask about President Trump’s former campaign manager, Nayyem says, he felt relieved: Maybe now those in America wondering about the future of Trump’s presidency would take a look at the legacy left in Ukraine by Manafort, who did so much to get Trump elected.

[snip]

Bondarenko remembered that the meetings he had with Manafort in Kiev were in the autumn of 2014, after the Maidan revolution and a year later, in 2015. “Kilimnik called me and invited to come to the lobby bar of the Hyatt, where Manafort always stayed,” Bondarenko recalled.

“Manafort asked us whether we had a fresh database, sociology and data for micro-targeting,” said Bondarenko. He knew Manafort as a fast network builder. “When I heard him ask us about micro-targeting, I saw that he was well-informed about the new technologies.” The technique studies the needs and preferences of all social layers, depending on their activities online—their searches on Google, likes on social networks, and such. Various companies, most famously Cambridge Analytica, which worked on the Brexit and Trump campaigns, have made these techniques famous, or infamous.

Based on what Bondarenko saw Manafort do in Ukraine, he says he is convinced Manafort ran what Bondarenko calls “parallel networks” to boost the Trump campaign.

“Trump won because of Manafort,” says Bondarenko. “In Ukraine he created so-called ‘volunteer’ groups, which clearly received compensation but who could gather a protest, if needed, or go around and spread a message about a competitor or fliers.” Bondarenko said this was done by “working with the same kind of mobile groups of hundreds of people in every state. You look at them and think they are just a group of fans, but they were the actual campaigners.”   

Analyzing Manafort’s legacy, several leading Ukrainian IT experts insist that Manafort’s campaigns benefited from Russian “bots” used to promote Yanukovych’s policies on the web. Boris Khodorkovsky, an Odessa-based IT specialist, has made a close study of this methodology. He said it was taking place at the same time Manafort was advising the party, but he did not know if Manafort was aware of the practice or if he was promoting it.  

“Back in 2013, the youth wing of [Putin’s] United Russia party, Molodaya Gvardia, created an effective machine capable of automatically raining spam all over social networks,” Khodorkovsky told The Daily Beast. “Then the Kremlin employed the internet trolls to keep Ukraine under control and later as a workforce in the hybrid war against Ukraine.”

According to Khodorkovsky, “Yanukovych used the instruments provided by Russian masterminds when he tried to withstand the first symptoms of the Revolution of Dignity,” the Maidan uprising.

One of the first striking examples was a clone website of Ukrainska Pravdacreated in March 2013 by a Russian web-development company named Rossiyskiy Project, Khodorkovsky recalls. “The clone of the newspaper looked very similar to the original Ukrainian media but it posted fake news,” Khodorkovsky says.

One such fake news item said that over 80 percent of Ukrainians supported federalization, meaning much greater autonomy for what became the breakaway Russian-speaking parts of the country now engaged in a war that has cost 10,000 lives over three years.  

Roman Kulchunskyj, another Ukrainian expert on bots and trolls in Ukraine, also blamed Manafort for using his political and sociological skills in order to split Ukrainian society. Manafort pushed hard to build on the resentments of Russian speakers and concerns that Ukraine would be drawn into NATO, leading to a conflict with Moscow.

“Before him, these themes were not as important but he managed to start the fire of the conflict in Ukrainian society and mobilize Yanukovych’s electorate,” Kulchunskyi said. “The Party of Regions created video clips and billboards—a party member told me on the record that this policy was going to emphasize the issue, plant the virus of the issue on people’s minds.”

Edited by Hugo Stiglitz
Link to comment
Share on other sites
triplehorn

triplehorn 2,664

Posted
Posted

Check out Exhibit 1300:

11/12/2016 Email; Subject: [FWD: Congratulations from Alan Friedman Request to be first EUROPEAN NEWSPAPER INTERVIEW WITH MR TRUMP]

well well well.  Manafort was alive and well working closely on behalf of Trump post-election, while he was also committing crimes. (no shit)

Link to comment
Share on other sites
The People’s Elbow

The People’s Elbow 707

Posted
Posted
On 8/28/2018 at 7:03 PM, Hugo Stiglitz said:

I’m not going to say it was the Russians, but it was the Russians.

This is a typical KGB tactic to remind you they can get to you anytime they damn well please. 

Reports of Manafort talking to Mueller about a deal probably didn’t help.

Lotta heat right now for a B&E, don’t you think? 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Hugo Stiglitz

Hugo Stiglitz 23,367

Posted
Posted
6 minutes ago, The People’s Elbow said:

Lotta heat right now for a B&E, don’t you think? 

I dunno what you mean.

As an aside, this second Manafort trial is the big one and will probably drive Trump completely nuts. 

I fear Trump will do everything in his power to stop this trial from happening because a whole bunch of new information is going to come out of it. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Tuco

Tuco 5,093

Posted
Posted
But wasn't the trial moved out of EDVA at the request and insistence of Manafort's counsel citing standing issues? I'd imagine that would make the judge much less likely to entertain this request lol

He moved jails, so his lawyers didn’t have to drive as much. It was to a more restrictive facility, so his lawyers ended up objecting and Ellis told them to slurp shit.
Link to comment
Share on other sites
atomheartbevo

atomheartbevo 90,548

Posted
Posted

https://nypost.com/2018/09/01/paul-manaforts-daughter-gets-a-new-name/

Quote

Paul Manafort’s daughter is ditching the family name.

Jessica Manafort, 36, filed paperwork in Manhattan Supreme Court late Friday to change her now-infamous surname to Bond, Jess Bond.

“I would like my new name to be Jessica Anne Bond, in place of my present name,” she said in the legal filing.

Bond is her mother Kathleen’s maiden name, which the daughter feels “more closely suits [her] profession,” she wrote in court papers.

Jessica, an independent filmmaker, seemed to test her hopes-to-be-future name in July, when her latest flick, “Rosy,” came out.

Its director was listed as Jess Bond.

She told The Post she’s seeking the name change “to separate myself and my work from a public perception that has nothing to do with the person that I am.”

When asked about the prospective name change in July, Manafort told the Los Angeles Times, “I am a passionate liberal and a registered Democrat and this has been difficult for me. Although I am ‘the daughter of,’ I am very much my own person and hopefully people can realize that.”

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Brisketexan

Brisketexan 106,625

Posted
Posted
6 minutes ago, deech said:

Plea deal being ironed out per the Twitters.

Not gonna happen.

Quote

the long-time Republican consultant, is reportedly in talks with special counsel Robert Mueller about a plea deal, but he is resistant to cooperating with prosecutors investigating his former client, President Donald Trump.

On Tuesday night, The Washington Post broke the news that Manafort, who was convicted last month of bank and tax fraud, has been talking with prosecutors from Mueller's team about a potential deal in which he would plead guilty to avoid a second trial this month on different charges.

On Wednesday, ABC News reported that Mueller wants Manafort to cooperate by providing information "related to President Trump and the 2016 campaign" that sent Trump to the White House. Manafort managed that campaign for several months in 2016.

 

But Manafort "is resisting" and his lawyers do not want the plea deal to include cooperation, ABC News said in its story, citing unnamed sources.

Mueller wouldn't take a deal if Manafort was able to keep mum on the bigger issues.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Brisketexan

Brisketexan 106,625

Posted
Posted
2 minutes ago, Biff Tannen said:

Um, isn't that generally what a plea would entail?  Cooperation?

Not always.  You can just plead guilty, but refuse to testify against a co-conspirator.  The difference is in the sentencing.  You get a lot more of a break if you flip (as you'd expect).

In a lot of drug cases, for example, the lower-level guys plead guilty to get the lightest sentence they can, but they don't flip (because the kingpins will kill their whole family back home).  So, they COULD have gotten a 3 yr sentence, but they'll plead out and just take the 6-7 yr sentence.

Ultimately, though, it's up to the prosecutor.  If he doesn't want to cut a deal with a defendant who won't flip, he doesn't have to.  Manafort needs to know that the ONLY way he gets something more favorable than a trial and a long sentence is full cooperation, including implicating his boss(es).

Link to comment
Share on other sites
 Share
Go to topic listing


Football ... Basketball ... Baseball ... Other Sports ... Futbol ... 🤫995🤫 ... Gambling ... Movies & TV ... Music ... Hobbies ... Lulz ... Food & Travel ... Daily Texan ... Business and Markets ... Cloak Room ... Help ... For Sale ... Board Discussion ... Subscribe!... Donate!... Advertise... COOKIE MONSTER!

×
×
  • Create New...