New scrutiny of potential Manafort links with Russia
ObviouslySIA SCANDAL
New scrutiny of potential Manafort links with Russia
A Mueller question asks about the former Trump campaign chairman, but his defense says theres an absence of proof.
By JOSH GERSTEIN 05/01/2018 08:37 PM EDT
https://www.politico.com/story/2018/05/01/manafort-russia-trump-mueller-565565
A set of leaked questions for President Donald Trump indicates that special counsel Robert Muellers prosecutors are eager to ask the president about efforts Manafort may have made to seek Russian assistance in electing Trump to the White House in 2016.
Manaforts defense team, however, insisted on Monday that it had been told there were no intercepts of the veteran political consultant communicating with Russian officials.
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In a filing on Monday in federal court in Alexandria, Virginia, Manaforts defense team said it had repeatedly asked prosecutors to turn over records of intercepted communications between Manafort and Russian agents but that prosecutors said they had nothing like that.
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While the defense lawyers' statement initially appears to convey a startling lack of evidence, legal experts say several nuances could explain the seeming discrepancy.
One possibility is that the lack of records of surveillance or intercepted communications doesnt mean Mueller lacks all evidence of Manaforts communicating with Russian officials, just that its not surveillance or intercepts. It could be testimony, say, from someone like Rick Gates, a former Manafort aide and co-defendant who pleaded guilty in February and is now cooperating with prosecutors.
Obviously, they have Gates, so theyll have some information about what Manafort was doing in that period, Rodgers said. Another possibility is that prosecutors have records that just dont fall into the category of surveillance or intercepts.
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Mueller hasn't charged manafort with campaign conspiracy with russia yet, so why would he have to turn over any evidence of that? so manafort is not entitled to evidence the government has about that, right?