Republican insider: Paul Manafort is going to flip on everyone – including Donald Trump
Donald Trump’s former campaign chair Paul Manafort is officially screwed. He’s been under FISA surveillance since before the election, and he’s about to be indicted by Special Counsel Robert Mueller in a manner which will prevent Trump from being able to pardon him. Manafort only has one way out of this that doesn’t involve dying in prison. According to a Republican insider, that’s precisely what Manafort is going to do.
Someone asked Republican political pundit Rick Wilson this question last night: “Who (and how many) does Manafort give up to Mueller in exchange for leniency or sentence recommendation?” Wilson’s answer: “Everyone. He’s going to roll, roll hard, and get out of this without prison tats.” (link) He then added “I told you. The [Intelligence Community] has a royal flush.” In this instance, “everyone” includes quite a long list of people, including Donald Trump himself.
It’s already been reported that Mueller is working with the New York Attorney General to bring parallel state level charges against Manafort so that Trump can’t fully pardon him. This will leave Manafort with only one option: flip on everyone he possibly can. That includes Trump, along with every campaign adviser and associate who conspired with Russia to rig the election. That includes everyone in Trump’s financial orbit in New York whose paths have crossed with Manafort. It also likely includes members of Trump’s family.
So now we wait to see what Paul Manafort does, in light of being dealt a losing hand with only one wildcard. He can drag this out a bit as he’s indicted, tried, convicted, and sentenced to prison, just to make sure he truly has no way out before he flips. But Manafort been around the block enough times to know that by that time, someone else in Donald Trump’s universe may have flipped on him and gotten the only good deal there is to be had. It’s a matter of when, not if, Manafort flips.
