How Robert Mueller played Paul Manafort like a fiddle against Donald Trump
Of all the remarkable aspects of today’s story about Paul Manafort being sent to jail, perhaps the oddest was that this was his second attempt at obstructing justice while under house arrest. Months ago, Manafort was caught trying to plant phony op-eds in an attempt at tainting the jury pool in his favor. So why didn’t he go to jail back then? The short answer: Special Counsel Robert Mueller didn’t want him to.
Considering the severity of the charges against Paul Manafort and the overwhelming mountain of evidence against him, the status of his house arrest had to have been tenuous from day one. Once he was caught trying to obstruct justice, that should have given Mueller enough ammo to convince the judge to lock Manafort up. But Mueller never even really tried, instead seemingly preferring to leave Manafort out on bond. Why? Because Manafort was never the target.
Robert Mueller’s one and only true target in this investigation is Donald Trump. Mueller surely wants to take Manafort down in the name of justice, but Mueller’s goal here is to get Manafort to cut a plea deal against Trump. It’s not enough for Mueller to build the kind of case that can get Manafort convicted at trial, as that could take years, and by that time Trump’s fate will have already been decided. Mueller has to build such an overwhelming case, it convinces Manafort that he shouldn’t even waste his time at trial.
It’s why Paul Manafort was allowed to remain out on house arrest, even as Robert Mueller was watching his every move from afar. Manafort couldn’t help himself, and ended up committing the kind of black and white obstruction crimes that should be far quicker and easier to prove than more complex crimes like conspiracy against the United States. Mueller gave Manafort some rope, and Manafort screwed himself. Now Manafort is backed into the kind of corner where the odds of him flipping on Donald Trump are now much higher – and this was always about getting to Trump.
