Prosecutors move to bust Paul Manafort and Jared Kushner like a piñata

| 1:15 am EDT October 25, 2017
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From a prosecutorial standpoint, taking down Donald Trump is no different than taking down a mob boss: you start by pressuring underlings to flip and cut deals, you work your way up the chain, and you end up with ironclad eyewitness testimony against the kingpin. It’s why prosecutors have been placing so much pressure on those who have worked with Trump the most closely. Now there’s a new effort to corner two of the key players.

Donald Trump’s former campaign manager Paul Manafort is already under criminal investigation by Special Counsel Robert Mueller and by New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman. Mueller is looking to force Manafort to flip on Trump, and he’s counting on Schneiderman bringing state-level charges against Manafort which can’t be pardoned by Trump. Now there’s a third flank against Manafort: according to the Wall Street Journal (link), the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York is also going after Manafort, this time on money laundering charges. Why does this matter?

The Assistant U.S. Attorney who is pursuing Manafort, has a background in asset forfeitures. It sounds like he’s looking to use money laundering charges to take Manafort’s money and possessions away – which would leave Manafort unable to pay his legal bills. That would make it all but impossible to go into court with a high priced lawyer and fight the state level charges brought by the New York Attorney General. If Manafort can’t fend off the state level charges, he’ll end up in prison – leaving him no choice but to flip. There is also another key target.

The same Wall Street Journal article reveals that the U.S. Attorney in Brooklyn is pursuing a criminal investigation into Jared Kushner’s family business. This also creates a path for pressuring Kushner to flip on Trump. He may be hesitant to flip on his own father-in-law for family reasons no matter how bad it gets for him – but it’s difficult to imagine Manafort refusing to flip if the Feds start taking his money away.