A Friday afternoon court filing from special counsel Robert Mueller reveals that Trump’s campaign manager Paul Manafort traded promises of a position with the Trump White House in return for a pair of loans totaling over $25 million. That filing also confirms that Manafort will not face charges related to collusion with the Russian government.
On June 22, Paul Manafort’s legal team asked for some of the evidence collected by the special counsel investigation to be stricken from court proceedings. Included in these were information related to a pair of bank loans and the fact that Manafort obtained these loans while holding a position as the manager of Donald Trump’s campaign. On Friday, Robert Mueller filed a response to these in limine motions that would have prevented these facts from being mentioned during the trial.
In his reply, Mueller makes one statement that may seem like a big disappointment: When it comes to collusion with the Russian government, Mueller does not intend to make any related charges against Paul Manafort.
… the defendant’s first motion in limine seeks to preclude evidence or argument on two subjects: collusion and the defendant’s role in the Trump campaign. The government does not intend to present at trial evidence or argument concerning collusion with the Russian government, and accordingly, does not oppose the defendant’s motion in that respect.
As far as Paul Manafort is concerned, working with the Russian government to interfere in the election is off the board. This already seemed self-evident, as it wasn’t included in any of the lengthy lists of indictments against Manafort. It’s another sign that, in this case at least, Mueller has no more shoes to drop. Which would also be expected this close to trial. Only … it still seems disappointing. Not only does Manafort have his long-established ties to Moscow through his work in Ukraine, but much of his money-laundering was for Russian oligarchs. And Manafort was in the room for the Trump Tower meeting with Russian operatives. Paired with the news that Mueller intends to go ahead with charges against George Papadopoulos, this isn’t a fantastic sign for charges related to collusion over the campaign being in anyone’s future. But that could be a serious misread of things to come.
In any case, the news from this filing isn’t all bad. In fact, it’s rather amazing. Because while Manafort may be slipping away from facing collusion charges, Mueller is not giving up on the second part of that motion—because Manafort’s bank fraud case is seriously tied to his position with the Trump campaign.
The opening segment of the new document concerns Manafort’s efforts to obtain a couple of high dollar loans, for which he was patently unqualified. Only there was someone at the bank who was interested in more than Manafort’s credit rating.
Both loan applications were approved by, among others, a Senior Executive at Lender D, who sought the defendant’s assistance to advise the Trump campaign (which he obtained) and later in the administration of President Trump (which he did not obtain).
So Paul Manafort, like Michael Cohen, was trading on his position with Trump to enrich himself. And in Manafort’s case, the price tag for an advisory position on the Trump campaign was $25.5 million.
What is not made clear in this filing is … was Manafort alone in this money for influence deal? Did Manafort only whisper a name in Trump’s ear, and collect a nod with $25M, or did Trump know what was going on? Did Trump, or other members of his campaign, get a piece of the action?
That is something yet to be determined.
Also on the Manafort front on Friday, Manafort’s legal team moved to change the venue for the trial. Their target: Roanoke, VA. This Roanoke would be the small city in Virginia, located just west of the Blue Ridge Mountains. This is not the Roanoke that was best known as the site of a disappearing English colony — though there seems little doubt that Manafort is hoping that a move to the south will help this whole case go away, or at least locate some more friendly jurors. Though … Roanoke went 56 percent for Clinton so, he might not get the welcome he desires.
Manafort then followed this motion with another motion that would delay the start of the trial “until passions cool” and it would be possible to “seat an impartial jury.” Or at least, Manafort’s legal team made such a filing. Because Donald Trump’s campaign chair himself is currently waiting out the clock in solitary confinement.
For the moment, there’s a brief pause in the paper war. Don’t expect the pens to stay silent for long.
Saturday, Jul 7, 2018 · 12:42:31 PM +00:00
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Mark Sumner
A couple of quick notes, based on discussion below:
1) Mueller is not playing games with the word “collusion.” No judge on God’s green Earth would stand for a prosecutor moving forward on the basis that he does not intend to pursue a case based on collision with the Russian government, then say “but when it comes to conspiracy ….” Nope. Nuh uh. That would fall under Stupid Lawyer tricks 101, and neither side in the legal fight here is stupid. A lawyer trying that would be thrown so far out of court that he would need to hitchhike home.
2) Is Mueller’s contention that the government doesn’t intend to bring charges related to collusion limited to this specific action against Paul Manafort? Absolutely. However, the government is making an express response that information be allowed at trial on the basis that they will not bring such charges. If Mueller then turned around and filed charges connected with collusion against Manafort, there would be an excellent case that the special counsel had engaged in deceptive practices. That’s especially true because the evidence in question is directly tied to Manafort’s position in the Trump campaign. In my opinion, when it comes to Paul Manafort, the idea that he’s going to be charged with anything related to cooperating, colluding, conspiring or anything else with the Russian government to interfere in the 2016 election is done. Barring, of course, the discovery of significant new evidence. Whether other people will be charged with collusion … I have no real idea. I’m speculating here based on the fact that Manafort will not, and that Mueller has decided to go ahead with sentencing Papadopoulos, suggesting that he will not be questioned further related to this issue.
3) I am not an attorney. I don’t play one on TV. I don’t even pretend to be one in posts. Unlike a large number of the staff here, who genuinely do have a legal background, I went to school to study rocks. And fish. And fish found in rocks. So feel absolutely free to ignore my opinion on this. But really, I’m offering my best opinion.