MANAFORT Trial #2 thread : ongoing, start date 9/17.. [UPDATE 9/13: PLEA DEAL MADE]

lightbright

Master Pussy Poster
BGOL Investor
Mueller's is getting the ducks in order now....

Special counsel Robert Mueller proposes 'well over' 1,000 pieces of evidence for next trial of ex-Trump campaign boss Paul Manafort: Attorneys



  • Special counsel Robert Mueller has given lawyers for ex-Trump campaign chief Paul Manafort "well over 1000 proposed exhibits," or pieces of evidence, which prosecutors want to show jurors at Manafort's next federal criminal trial in Washington, D.C., a court filing revealed Thursday.
  • That number of exhibits dwarfs the fewer than 400 pieces of evidence Mueller's team of prosecutors introduced at Manafort's ongoing trial in U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Virginia.
  • A jury in that case began deliberations Thursday morning, and has yet to reach a verdict on bank fraud and tax crime charges, which relate to Manafort's work for a pro-Russia political party in Ukraine.

Former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort arrives for arraignment on a third superseding indictment against him by Special Counsel Robert Mueller on charges of witness tampering, at U.S. District Court in Washington, U.S. June 15, 2018.


We're gonna need a bigger evidence cart.

Special counsel Robert Mueller has given lawyers for ex-Trump campaign chief Paul Manafort "well over 1000 proposed exhibits," or pieces of evidence, which prosecutors want to show jurors at Manafort's next federal criminal trial in Washington, D.C., a court filing revealed Thursday.

That number of exhibits dwarfs the fewer than 400 pieces of evidence Mueller's team of prosecutors introduced at Manafort's ongoing trial in U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Virginia.


Jurors in that case began deliberations Thursday morning. They have yet to reach a verdict on bank fraud and tax crime charges.

Manafort, 69, a longtime Republican consultant, is scheduled to next go on trial Sept. 17 in Washington, where he is accused of money laundering and failing to register as an agent for a foreign government. Charges accusing him of trying to tamper with witnesses were lodged in June, months after the original case was filed.

Both trials are related to the lucrative work Manafort did for a pro-Russia political party in Ukraine, years before he became chairman of Donald Trump's presidential campaign in 2016. Manafort, who was jailed without bond in June after being accused of witness tampering, has pleaded not guilty in both cases.

Judge Amy Berman Jackson, who will preside over the Washington trial, had given Manafort's lawyers and Mueller until next Monday to file a joint pretrial statement. That statement would detail their respective lists of proposed exhibits, list their expert witnesses, give an estimate of how long their respective cases will take to present to the jury, and propose jury instructions.

But in their filing Thursday, Manafort's lawyers asked Jackson to give them another week on that task.

Jackson later Thursday gave them just four extra days — until Aug. 24.

The judge also said in an order that she "encouraged" Mueller "to review the exhibit list closely with an eye towards streamlining the presentation of its case."

Manafort's attorneys had cited how long it will take to review the large volume of exhibits proposed by Mueller, most of which were not part of the Virginia trial.

"Review of these materials will be time-consuming," Manafort's defense team wrote.

"The task simply cannot be accomplished while Mr. Manafort's legal team is engaged in trial before Judge [T.S.] Ellis" in Virginia, they added. "It is unknown when the jury will return a verdict."

Defense lawyers also noted the trial in Virginia "has not allowed" them enough time to confer with Mueller's team about the joint pretrial statement that is due next week.

This is the second time Manafort's team has requested an extension of that deadline. Jackson previously had asked both sides to submit their statement on Aug. 1.

Mueller's office, which declined to comment, has previously expressed irritation with Manafort's team for asking for that extension.

In July, Mueller's team told Jackson that it had given the defense "a roadmap" of its case by divulging all the information deemed necessary for the joint pretrial statement.

"With each submission to the defense, the government asked the defense to alert it to its position, so the government could inform the Court" in time to meet the original deadline, Mueller's prosecutors wrote.

"Not once did Manafort respond, in any way, to any of the government's disclosures," prosecutors said.

Manafort's lawyers did not immediately respond to a request for comment from CNBC.

Jackson previously has said she would be opposed to postponing the start of the trial beyond Sept. 17.

Second, jurors asked if the judge could define “shelf company” and the filing requirements related to income. Witnesses testified at Manafort’s trial that he used so-called shelf companies — companies previously created by a lawyer in Cyprus that could be used to control the bank accounts in question — in order to move Manafort’s money. To that question, the judge said the jury would have to rely on their memory of the evidence presented at trial.

Third, they asked if the judge could “redefine reasonable doubt.” Jurors sometimes struggle with what constitutes a reasonable doubt of someone’s guilt, versus an unreasonable doubt. The judge told them reasonable doubt “is a doubt based on reason,” but added: “The government is not required to prove guilt beyond all possible doubt.”

Defense attorneys emphasized in their closing argument that it’s not enough to believe a defendant is “likely” guilty or even “highly likely” guilty, using a thermometer chart to make the point.





https://www.cnbc.com/2018/08/16/mueller-proposes-1000-exhibits-for-next-trial-of-paul-manafort.html





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lightbright

Master Pussy Poster
BGOL Investor
Paul Manafort’s trial in D.C. to take 3 weeks, probe Ukraine lobbying world

7BKU43VHXAI6RD5MCLUYYE2SRU.jpg

The Paul Manafort trial set for September in Washington is expected to last three weeks and, on the basis of a list of 1,500 possible exhibits, will delve far more deeply into how he operated as a lobbyist and consultant than was done in his just-completed trial in Virginia.

The estimated trial timeline and exhibits were included in a joint filing Friday night in federal court in Washington by Manafort’s defense and prosecutors with special counsel Robert S. Mueller III.

The required filing is a road map of the next trial facing President Trump’s former campaign chairman, convicted Tuesday in federal court in Alexandria on eight of 18 tax- and bank-fraud charges after a trial that focused on Manafort’s finances.

Manafort’s trial in the District, set to begin Sept. 17, will cover much of the same ground but will scrutinize more closely his political work from 2006 to 2017, during which he allegedly reaped $30 million as a consultant for pro-Russian politicians in Ukraine.

Manafort, 69, has pleaded not guilty to charges related to his advising of then-Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych. In his upcoming trial, the list of prosecution exhibits suggests how Manafort became an architect of Washington’s modern-day influence industry, gaining access to foreign influence and foreign money.

Manafort faces seven counts in the District charging him with conspiring against the United States, money laundering, failing to register as a lobbyist, making false statements and witness tampering.

The last count arose after prosecutors in June accused Manafort and a longtime associate they linked to Russian intelligence of repeatedly contacting two members of a public relations firm and asking them to falsely testify about secret lobbying they did at Manafort’s behest. Manafort has been in jail since then on the order of U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson, who is overseeing the case in Washington.

Prosecutors disclosed the list of 1,500 potential exhibits with minimal descriptors, but among the subject lines in emails and other correspondence are references to Democratic power lobbyist Tony Podesta, whose firm, the Podesta Group, went out of business after Manafort’s indictment was unsealed; former GOP congressman and Jeb Bush adviser Vin Weber of Mercury Public Affairs; and former Barack Obama White House counsel Gregory Craig, who this year left his job as of counsel at the law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom.

The exhibit list also mentions items citing “OVD” and “Oleg,” which appear to be references to Oleg Deripaska, an aluminum magnate and ally to Russian President Vladimir Putin who employed Manafort as an investment consultant.

The list also appears to refer to many of the purchases of high-end clothing and consumer electronics that were discussed in the Virginia trial as prosecutors there laid out their case about Manafort’s income and wire transfers from foreign accounts.


For the trial in Washington, the government said it expected to complete its work in 10 to 12 trial days — similar to the 12 days of testimony it presented in Alexandria — and to use three of the same expert witnesses: two FBI forensic accountants and an Internal Revenue Service agent.

A list of all witnesses who might be called was not part of the filing Friday.

Manafort’s attorneys did not commit to put on a defense but told the court that if they did, their presentation could take three or four days.

Mueller’s prosecutors, led by Andrew Weissmann, wrote, “The government hereby gives notice as required” that in the unlikely case Manafort reverses himself and decides to testify in his Washington trial, “the government intends to offer for purpose of impeachment the defendant’s prior convictions in the case United States v. Manafort.”

Manafort’s defense said it had not had time to review the government’s exhibits, reserved its objections to all of them and declined to agree to 23 proposed joint “stipulations” of undisputed facts that could be presented to a jury without argument, including some to which both sides agreed in Alexandria.


“At this time, there are no agreed upon stipulations,” wrote Manafort’s defense, which is led by Kevin M. Downing.

U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III declared a mistrial on the 10 remaining charges in Manafort’s trial in Alexandria and gave the government until Aug. 29to decide whether to retry Manafort.

[Lone holdout on Manafort jury blocked conviction on all counts]

A juror who spoke publicly after the Virginia verdict said that all but one of the jurors wanted to convict Manafort on all of the 18 charges he faced.

Manafort opted to face trials in two jurisdictions on charges brought by the special counsel rather than consolidate the bank- and tax-fraud case into the District case.


https://www.washingtonpost.com/loca...2e98c13528d_story.html?utm_term=.cb64aa950745


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lightbright

Master Pussy Poster
BGOL Investor
Pretrial hearing that was set for today delayed till Friday......some one is up to something....


Has the Unbreakable Paul Manafort Finally Seen the Light?

The former Trump campaign chairman is reportedly talking to Mueller about a plea deal. Is he cutting his losses, or trying to scare Trump into action?


paul-manafort.jpg


For a time, Paul Manafort may have been holding out for a presidential pardon. Donald Trump teased the possibility last month, in the wake of Manafort’s conviction on eight counts of bank and tax fraud, praising his former campaign chairman as “brave” for refusing to “break” under pressure, he called the case against him “very sad” and a “disgrace.” “He believes [Manafort] has been mistreated,” Trump’s lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, told reporters. But given the harrowing political realities facing the president, in the form of Robert Mueller’s probe and a potential Democratic takeover of the House, a pardon was never a safe bet. And so, as he awaits the start of a second trial in D.C., and the realities of taking the stand as a convicted felon have sunk in, Manafort appears to have had a change of heart.

Less than a week before jury selection is scheduled to begin in Washington, Manafort is reportedly in talks with special counsel Mueller’s office about a potential plea deal, The Washington Postreported late Tuesday. The details of the negotiations are unclear, and whether Mueller would be willing to cut a deal with Manafort remains an open question, according to the Post. But that the defendant is engaging on the issue at all marks a sharp shift in his position. (Both Jason Maloni, Manafort’s spokesperson, and Peter Carr, Mueller’s spokesperson, declined the Post’s request for comment.)

CONTINUED:
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2018/09/paul-manafort-robert-mueller-deal
 

lightbright

Master Pussy Poster
BGOL Investor
BREAKING

Plea deal negotiations with Bob Mueller for Paul Manafort have stalled.... because Manafort won't agree to a deal that would include cooperation. Mueller wants to lock Manafort into cooperation for information that pertains to Trump and the 2016 election.

SOURCES: ARI MELBER, THE BEAT, ABC NEWS


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easy_b

Look into my eyes you are getting sleepy!!!
BGOL Investor
BREAKING

Plea deal negotiations with Bob Mueller for Paul Manafort have stalled.... because Manafort won't agree to a deal that would include cooperation. Mueller wants to lock Manafort into cooperation for information that pertains to Trump and the 2016 election.

SOURCES: ARI MELBER, THE BEAT, ABC NEWS


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If you can’t give up no information no plea deal for you
 

twillz1

The Voice of Reason
BGOL Investor
I'm one of the guys who said that Manafort would probably not make a deal with Mueller, and it would have much to do with the Russians he owes so much money to.
I stand by that statement, and here's why:
- My theory is that Manafort can't roll over on Trump without involving Oleg Deripaska, Viktor Yanukovych, and a few other Russian billionaires. These are the guys he won't want to snitch on.
- Until recently, it wasn't revealed exactly what charges the Mueller probe was going to charge Manafort with in this second trial. This is why I suspect Manafort's lawyers were hedging about getting so many files at the last minute. (except it really wasn't at the last minute. They were stalling for time, and the judge wouldn't allow it) Now that they know this trial will reveal all of Manafort's dealings with Yanukovych's Ukranian Presidential victory and the borrowed millions from Deripaska, (referred to as OVD in Manafort's texts) there's been something of a panic in the Manafort camp.
- So far, there's been no indication that Manafort has a co-operation deal with prosecution. He's merely pleading guilty to avoid a trial.

Avoiding a trial means that, potentially, only the big charges will have to be admitted to in front of a judge. (they want to avoid all of the Russian mentions that they can) There's room for a deal that would reveal all of Manafort's schemes, both pre- and post- election, without addressing the full amount of Russian involvement.

Mueller's camp could refuse this type of plea deal, in which case we may have a trial after all. Mueller might need to make a case against Russians he'll never get to prosecute so that he can tie all of the Trump Tower meetings, the Russian tenants with mob ties, and Trump's shady real estate deals of the last twenty years into one neat bow.

This shit's of historical proportions.


One Last Thing: (and I'm guessing here)
I believe the Republicans that are averting their gaze, refusing to do anything while this plays out (Lindsey Graham, etc.) are those who took campaign funds from the RNC. Up until June of 2018, the Deputy Finance Chair was Michael Cohen. What better way to launder Russian funds than through the RNC? If that's the case, many Republicans could be looking at jail time, and they might not have known how dirty the money was at the time they took it. They're all afraid to help take Donald down.

This really does dwarf Watergate.
 

lightbright

Master Pussy Poster
BGOL Investor
Manafort Pleads Guilty To Two Criminal Charges



Paul Manafort, a former campaign chairman for U.S. President Donald Trump, has agreed to plead guilty to two criminal counts brought by the office of Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who is investigating alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

According to court documents filed on September 14, Manafort has agreed to plead guilty to one count of conspiracy against the United States and one count of conspiracy to obstruct justice.


The charges in the filing were part of a criminal information document, which can only be filed with a defendant's consent and often signals that a plea deal in which the defendant has agreed to cooperate with prosecutors has been reached.




https://www.rferl.org/a/manafort-pleads-guilty-to-two-criminal-charges/29490144.html
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aries1201

Star
BGOL Investor
Manafort Pleads Guilty To Two Criminal Charges -

Paulie is about to sing.




Paul Manafort, a former campaign chairman for U.S. President Donald Trump, has agreed to plead guilty to two criminal counts brought by the office of Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who is investigating alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

According to court documents filed on September 14, Manafort has agreed to plead guilty to one count of conspiracy against the United States and one count of conspiracy to obstruct justice.


The charges in the filing were part of a criminal information document, which can only be filed with a defendant's consent and often signals that a plea deal in which the defendant has agreed to cooperate with prosecutors has been reached.




https://www.rferl.org/a/manafort-pleads-guilty-to-two-criminal-charges/29490144.html
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veritech

Black Votes Matter!
Platinum Member
Now them charges are a fucking Voltron blazing sword slice down the middle of 45's administration.

Wow. I am on the 45 is done train now. Before I was like whatthefuckever.

But that plea right there is a wooden dagger to a vampires heart.

Wow!

This damn hurricane needs to hurry up and do its thing so the news can cover this plea instead of 24/7 disaster porn.
 

lightbright

Master Pussy Poster
BGOL Investor
Trump Ex-Campaign Chairman Paul Manafort Reaches Deal to Plead Guilty
Fifth Trump associate to admit wrongdoing in connection with Mueller investigation

Paul Manafort reached a deal to plead guilty to two criminal charges Friday, according to court documents, a move that heads off a second criminal trial for the former Trump campaign chairman.

Mr. Manafort, who becomes the fifth associate of President Trump to plead guilty in connection with special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation, is expected to admit to conspiracy against the U.S. and conspiracy to obstruct justice. He already was convicted last month by a federal jury in Virginia of not reporting to tax authorities more than $16 million he earned for political consulting work in Ukraine in the early 2010s.

Mr. Manafort already faces about eight to 10 years in prison, and the second trial, in Washington, D.C., was set to cover additional charges related to that Ukraine work.

In connection with the agreement, Mr. Manafort agreed to forfeit four of his multi-million-dollar homes, including a Brooklyn townhome and an estate on Long Island, and funds in multiple bank accounts. Other terms of the deal couldn’t immediately be determined, including whether they include any requirement for Mr. Manafort to cooperate in Mr. Mueller’s inquiry into Russian interference in the 2016 election and any links to the Trump campaign.

Mr. Manafort has resisted any notion of cooperating with Mr. Mueller, and his lawyer said at the outset of the Virginia trial that there was no chance of such cooperation.

A pretrial hearing that had been scheduled for 11 a.m. was converted to a plea hearing, according to court records. Mr. Manafort, 69 years old, has been in jail since June, after he was accused of trying to influence the testimony of a potential witness against him.

In the coming Washington case, Mr. Manafort was to have faced charges of conspiring against the U.S., conspiring to launder money, failing to register his foreign lobbying work, misleading the government about that work, and obstruction of justice.

The Virginia trial, which concluded recently, involved days of detailed testimony regarding Mr. Manafort’s finances from people who had worked with and for Mr. Manafort. The testimony often delved into embarrassing testimony about Mr. Manafort’s spending habits and what appeared to be a deliberate effort to mislead financial institutions, accountants and his own bookkeeper about his income and expenses.

The 12 men and women in that jury deadlocked on 10 additional counts. One of the jurors, a self-described Trump supporter, spoke publicly soon after the trial and said the hung jury was the result of one holdout and that the evidence against Mr. Manafort had been “overwhelming.”

Mr. Manafort’s defense team has portrayed Mr. Manafort as the subject of a political prosecution, arguing that others who engaged in the same conduct were not prosecuted for similar crimes.

Mr. Manafort, unlike others charged by the special counsel, has taken something of a defiant approach until now about Mr. Mueller’s investigation. As a former campaign chairman, Mr. Manafort would likely know details about the campaign’s inner operations.


https://www.wsj.com/articles/trump-...afort-reaches-deal-to-plead-guilty-1536932667
 

cold-n-cocky

BGOL vet down since the “56k stay out!” days
BGOL Gold Member
Foregone conclusion.. At this point he needs to save as much time and money as possible. I was telling @fonzerrillii and others there was no way in hell he would appeal and would be a fool to go to trial in DC.


It was previously reported that he’s trying to limit the damage to his family. But still, wow. Guess the potential for life in the box; gotta roll with it.
 
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