Paul Manafort just received a “one way ticket” to prison
With all the other chaotic ways in which Donald Trump’s criminal scandals have been escalating this weekend, it’s become surprisingly easy to lose track of the fact that his campaign chairman Paul Manafort is currently on trial. Of course such trials take a break for the weekend, giving us a chance to stop and evaluate just how things are going for Manafort so far. One legal expert with a detailed knowledge of presidential scandals says the first four days of the trial have already cooked Manafort’s goose.
When Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s witness list against Paul Manafort was first revealed, it mostly consisted of unrecognizable names, leading some observers disappointed that this wasn’t going to be a proxy trial of Donald Trump. Palmer Report pointed out that Mueller’s goal here was simply to get a felony conviction against Manafort as quickly and clinically as possible, because it would serve to legitimize his entire probe, and give him the upper hand against Trump and everyone else he wants to take down. Sure enough, one of those “no name” witnesses just delivered a dagger.
John Dean, who flipped on Richard Nixon and helped take him down for Watergate, put it this way on Twitter: “Manafort’s bookkeepers pretty much gave him a oneway ticket to jail with their testimony— one admitted (w/ immunity) he had cheated on his taxes with her knowledge.” Manafort is already in jail for violating the terms of his bail, of course, and Dean is talking about Manafort being given a long term prison sentence. This helps explain why Mueller’s team told the judge earlier this week that it may wrap up its case as soon as this upcoming week; the case is that cut and dry.
Paul Manafort is looking at a second federal trial this fall, where the criminal charges are more complex and more closely aligned with the Trump-Russia scandal. But for now, Robert Mueller’s goal is to quickly get Manafort convicted on the financial crimes, so he can use it as a stepping stone to taking down the biggest of Trump-Russia fish.
