Robert Mueller reveals he doesn’t need Paul Manafort to take down Donald Trump

| 6:29 pm EDT March 29, 2018
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Back when Special Counsel Robert Mueller simultaneously arrested Donald Trump’s campaign chairman Paul Manafort and Trump’s deputy campaign chairman Rick Gates last year, it was widely presumed that Mueller was looking to force Gates to flip on Manafort, which would force Manafort to flip on Trump. Earlier this year, Gates did indeed flip. But now Mueller is revealing that he doesn’t need Manafort to take down Trump.

Mueller is indeed using Gates’ testimony to further incriminate Manafort, but he’s also relying on Gates to expose the conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russia, according to a new CNN report. This means, in effect, that Gates must have had a front row seat to the campaign collusion in his role as deputy chairman, and that he can give Mueller everything he needs in that department. So why is this such a crucial development?

Paul Manafort has dug in his heels and decided to take his chances at trial, even though he’s facing up to three hundred years in prison, and the testimony from his longtime business partner Gates means it’s probably a slam-dunk case. Manafort is either being stubborn, or he’s naively counting on a pardon from Donald Trump that’ll probably never come. This new revelation about Gates seems to be Mueller’s way of making clear to Manafort that he’s not even needed. If Manafort wants to spend the next few years going through trial, Mueller is fine with that.

Of course Paul Manafort may be able to provide evidence of Donald Trump’s financial crimes that Rick Gates might not have witnessed, as Trump and Manafort have financial ties going back several years. But Mueller is sending a clear signal to Manafort that he doesn’t need him, and he’s sending a clear signal to Trump that there would be no point in trying to pardon Manafort at this late date.