Robert Mueller drags Jared Kushner into the Paul Manafort trial
Just when we thought the Paul Manafort trial was going to reach the finish line without any major surprises, it turns out Special Counsel Robert Mueller has thrown in a last minute curveball – and it’s aimed directly at Jared Kushner. This raises a number of questions about what Mueller may have in the works with regard to Kushner behind the scenes, as the Manafort trial prepares to come to an end.
Because this trial is focused solely on financial fraud charges against Paul Manafort, the evidence has largely consisted of financial records and bookkeeper testimony. Even when Donald Trump’s campaign deputy chairman Rick Gates testified, it was for the sole purpose of confirming that he and Manafort committed many of these financial crimes together over the years. But now it turns out an email exchange between Manafort and Kushner has been introduced into evidence.
One of the charges against Manafort is that he tried to secure a loan by promising to convince Trump to give a job in the administration to the head of the bank. Bloomberg is now reporting that Mueller’s team introduced emails at the trial which show that Manafort asked Kushner to get Trump to appoint the guy. Kushner wrote back, saying “On it!”
This alone does not necessarily incriminate Jared Kushner; there would have to be additional evidence that Kushner knew Manafort was making the request under fraudulent circumstances. What matters here is that Robert Mueller has decided to drag Kushner into the Manafort trial at all. Mueller is just days from likely obtaining a guilty verdict against Manafort, and his grand jury proceedings suggest he’s very close to completing his indictment of Roger Stone. Is this a sign that Mueller may be moving on to Kushner next? Stay tuned.
