Manafort seeking plea deal with special counsel that would avoid cooperation ahead of second trial

[Miles Archer]

Manafort seeking plea deal with special counsel that would avoid cooperation ahead of second trial: Sources

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/manafort-seeking-plea-deal-special-counsel-avoid-cooperation/story?id=57777687

Sources familiar with negotiations tell ABC News former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort has been in ongoing negotiations with Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s office over a potential plea agreement.

The discussions, which have picked up steam in the last several weeks, come ahead of Manafort’s second trial which is slated to begin later this month in federal court in Washington D.C.

Sources tell ABC News that Mueller’s office is seeking cooperation from Manafort for information related to President Trump and the 2016 campaign, however, Manafort is resisting and his team is pushing prosecutors for a plea agreement that does not include cooperation, at least as related to the president.

A spokesperson for Manafort declined to comment.

[LandOfHopeAndDreams]

1. Why The Fuck Should Mueller Do This?

Everything I've heard is that Manafort is screwed in the next trial. It's supposed to be even more solid than the last, in which he received several convictions.

Why would Mueller want to let him off the hook, if he's willing to provide nothing that will help his investigation? I don't get it.

[pnwmom]

4. I hope he doesn't but it wouldn't be unusual. Prosecutors often make plea deals

just to avoid the time and expense of prosecution.

[RhodeIslandOne]

17. Not all defendants have information on other crooks but still get deals

Obviously Manafort DOES have info but is trying to act like he doesn’t.

[triron]

28. I don't get the impression Mueller will necesarily do any plea deal without cooperation.

[Iliyah]

2. In other words, Manafort may plea to agreement to cooperate, including,

but not limited to, shithole t-rump, et al.

[sarah FAILIN]

18. I don't read it that way

I think this is saying plead guilty and take all the blame without ratting Trump out.

[triron]

29. I am doubtinng Mueller will go there.

[scarytomcat]

32. He might just to get more convictions

and save the trouble of a trial
He may have all he needs to bring down the orange one.
I'm hoping for the rest of the family in orange too.

[Cirque du So-What]

3. Fuck that

He's hardly in a position to dictate terms to the prosecution. Either he cooperates where he's told or he can rot in prison.

[manor321]

12. Amen!

Fuck that guy!

[ffr]

16. +1

Flush that waste down the toilet!

[helpisontheway]

24. +1 nt!

[LandOfHopeAndDreams]

5. Awaiting That Commuted Sentence From Drumpf

I guess he figures the quicker he gets this trial over with, the sooner Drumpf can commute his sentence.

[ProudLib72]

6. Bring nothing to the table

Expect a full serving: triple life sentence, no parole, hard labor.

[Shrike47]

33. No such thing as life sentences available in federal system for what he's charged with. No hard labo

That’s actually good, because if they could make you do hard labor in the hot sun, a lot of minority persons who once held a crack pipe or a baggie would be doing it.

The statutes are harsh enough, no matter how annoying the defendant.

[ProudLib72]

34. Hey, I can dream can't I?

Yes, I know he can't be given such a sentence. The one thing I really want is for him to serve time. If he got a fifteen year sentence w/o parole, that would probably do him in. I'm fine with that.

[Iggo]

7. Give it up, Paul.

[Equinox Moon]

8. Nice try. NOPE!

[MaryMagdaline]

9. He wants to save money while waiting for his pardon

Mueller does have to consider the costs associated with another trial. He needs his prosecutors on various matters. Tough decision.

[ChoppinBroccoli]

10. The Fact That He Doesn't Want To Cooperate And Testify Against Trump Should Tell You Everything

Because if there was nothing to testify ABOUT, why would he fear cooperating?

[kentuck]

11. He's sending a message to Trump...

Either pardon me before the next trial or I will cooperate with the Prosecutors.

[erronis]

19. Does a pardon work on all future criminal convictions? I thought a perp was just walking away

from the ones that he was already accused/convicted of. Not all possible future crimes and misdemeanors.

Perhaps the OSC is purposefully stringing out these accusations/trials to catch Manafort in between a

[Power 2 the People]

13. He's definitely more afraid of Russian mob/Putin than he is of jail

If he spills the beans on Trump/Russia he knows both his and his family's lives are in jeopardy.

[riversedge]

14. go to jail. go directly to jail. do not pass Go. do not collect $200.00

[RockRaven]

15. No deal without cooperation. Go ahead and risk an acquittal in DC by going to trial.

The EDVA convictions, based on federal sentencing guidelines, will put him in prison for a decade (until he's ~80). And that's without re-trying the 10 mistrial charges. Likely the prosecutors could gain convictions on a retrial on most of those.

Some of the charges in the DC trial should be very easy to prove because most of the evidence is document-based. It's all there in black and white, what he did and didn't do.

Let him spend the rest of his life in prison if not cooperating is so important to him.

[Fiendish Thingy]

25. Since he's already facing prison time, I'd be inclined to cut a deal for the retrial

Here’s my deal:
You don’t have to testify anything about Trump, but you have to provide incriminating testimony against Junior, Jared, and everyone else at the Trump tower meeting.

And you still have to stand trial in DC.

[Voltaire2]

20. Mueller should politely tell Manafort to fuck off.

[redstatebluegirl]

21. Try him. If he doesn't want to cooperate he doesn't deserve a deal.

They have the goods on him, put him in jail where he belongs. Maybe 45 will pardon him, ok, but I want him broke when that happens.

[blogslut]

22. I think Manafort is terrified of what the Russians will do to him or his family.

[Mr. Ected]

23. This is a trial the American people deserve to hear

The tremendous amount of disinformation that has spewed from Trump, his sycophants, the media, and Congress with regard to Russian collusion can only be controverted by a very public trial that distinguishes fact from "alternate reality" as it regards this administration. Without it, Trump can continue to point a finger at Hillary and those who are not paying attention may be easily duped. This trial will be anathema to the lies. It will turn public opinion.

And dammit, as Americans, we DESERVE THE TRUTH. A plea deal here doesn't make Mueller look good, nor does it lead us to the conclusion that true justice was served.

[Eliot Rosewater]

26. i.e. Of course I know rump is guilty (speaking as manafort now) and NO thank you I dont

want to tell you the truth because the truth is so devastating.

[Thomas Hurt]

27. Still thinks he is not going to die in prison? Going to get his pardon...

kicked on appeal?

[chillfactor]

30. Mueller would never agree to that! n/t

[Vinca]

31. I think he's trolling for a pardon. The next trial gets into the Russia collusion.

His offer to Mueller is just a ploy to wake Don up. Of course, he would still have to testify in other trials even if he did get a pardon . . . unless he's permanently out of the country. A real possibility.