And the hits just keep on comin’.
Paul Manafort has apparently been ghost-writing an editorial about himself. And yes, I am serious.
On November 30, Manafort reached a bail agreement with prosecutors that was set to lift the house arrest he’s been subject to since the Mueller indictment came down early last month. Under the terms of that agreement, Manafort pledged four properties: the Alexandria, Virginia condominium where he was under house arrest, a Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, home, a Manhattan condo and another piece of property in Bridgehampton. Those properties are together worth nearly $12 million.
“Simply put, Mr. Manafort’s family would face severe economic consequences if he were not to appear as required,” a filing by his attorneys read.
Well as it turns out, Manafort was literally working on an op-ed about himself on the same day that deal was reached.
Specifically, Manafort was collaborating with a Russian colleague on an opinion piece about his work for Ukraine. That colleague has ties to Russian intelligence. To wit, from a filing dated Monday:
As late as November 30, 2017, Manafort and a colleague were ghostwriting an editorial in English regarding his political work for Ukraine. Manafort worked on the draft with a long-time Russian colleague of Manafort’s, who is currently based in Russia and assessed to have ties to a Russian intelligence service.
Needless to say, Mueller is not amused.
“The editorial clearly was undertaken to influence the public’s opinion of defendant Manafort, or else there would be no reason to seek it’s publication (much less for Manafort and his long-time associate to ghostwrite it in another’s name),” the filing, which opposes the easing of Manafort’s bail conditions, goes on to say.
https://twitter.com/CarlPrinetweets/status/937816355058827265
Manafort and his legal team were already warned about this kind of thing once when U.S. District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson told Manafort’s attorney, Kevin Downing, not to talk to the media following Manafort’s appearance in court, noting that “this is a criminal trial, not a public relation a campaign.”
The government continues:
Even if the ghostwritten op-ed were entirely accurate, fair, and balanced, it would be a violation of this Court’s November 8 Order if it had been published. Because Manafort has now taken actions that reflect an intention to violate or circumvent the Court’s existing Orders, at a time one would expect particularly scrupulous adherence, the government submits that the proposed bail package is insufficient reasonably to assure his appearance as required.
There you go. Sorry, Paul.
Full filing below
May be got his legal advise from Trump and his lawyer.
“Pled” vs “Pleaded”? Guess so…
Or perhaps, as alleged in the pending indictements filed against him, he’s just a criminal who does what serious criminals do: intentionally, wilfully and knowingly acts without regard to the law, court orders, or any other rule which applies to ordinary citizens. Manafort, just like Trump, Flynn, Papadopoulos, Kushner, all act in the same fashion: as if they are above the law. It is quite fortunate that America through the regular process found itself with the appoinment of Mueller.
Mueller and his staff are good at keeping the leash short and the screws tight.
With the circus he has uncovered maybe he needs to add RINGMASTER to his CV.
and Manafart did not even take a day off…same day agreed to his bail bond arrangement, he was conferring with his Russia folks… sounds like he is actually a Russian Spy who infiltrated the trump team as an easy way inside the American government, set up as a take over of the United States… gonna be a good movie!
It gets even crazier with Prosecutors saying that a longtime Manafort colleague has ‘ties’ to Russian intelligence!! Another year of this without Mueller having been appointed and the USA would be a sattelite of USSR!!
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/prosecutors-say-longtime-manafort-colleague-has-ties-to-russian-intelligence/2017/12/04/201ae098-d93e-11e7-b1a8-62589434a581_story.html?utm_term=.a65e7a571489
Holy sh*t these people are either so arrogant or so stupid or plants from the Russian gov’t with something hanging over their heads by Vlad and company. This is getting to be absurd on a level so far beyond absurd. Well after 240+ years maybe we were due for a complete clusterf*ck and well we got it.
That we are dealing with a Trump/Russia election fraud/treason investigation 1 year after a questionable election in which foreign influence is a proven fact – speaks volumes about the weaknesses and frailty of the supposed electoral representative democracy and it’s lack of respective protections that we now live under. The degree to which it can now be manipulated by money and power – even a foreign enemy’s power. Yet we are spending billions to build totally ineffective walls to keep criminal immigrants out – but doing nothing to wall-off our electoral system from the Presidency, to the Congress, all the way down to local politics – from being so easily and thoroughly breached by the criminally corrupt and or their alliances with a foreign power and their representatives. Do any of you really have any faith in the legality and or the integrity of sitting President and or a Congress that does nothing regarding both his mental incompetence and or the mounting evidence of his collusion with the Russians? The US is adrift in a sea of political leadership incompetence and a general lack of professional integrity.
If the US were a corporation/company (as it probably is more so, than less these days after Citizens vs. United) – would you buy stock in a company with its Executives under investigation for serious and heinous self-serving criminal activities against their company and its stockholders? An investigation of these criminals with a mountain of growing evidence (including confessions) against the companies Executives that they colluded with a known company competitor. A company whose Board’s (like Congress) leadership continues to support and abet those executives under investigation?
I certainly wouldn’t be buying their stock – because a company once in this position – the credibility of the company’s entire executive selection process would have zero credibility. The companies entire future would be in serious doubt. Even if the company executives were eventually prosecuted successfully, where’s the preventative plan and action to keep this kind of abuse from happening again? There is none. I think most reasonable investors would see the value (of this company that allowed criminal leadership to take hold) to be greatly reduced in the market place. The rest of the world is watching – and frankly the internationals that I talk to – are totally unimpressed that anything is being done about Trump, his obvious illegal election and his collusion with the Russians. Worse, they look at H. Clinton option as only a confirmation of a totally failed election system. One that is incapable of putting forward honest, experienced and capable candidates. They see the current investigation as a US media soap opera fest of self-serving milking of the drama that is the failure of the US electoral democracy, this snail pace investigation. Worse they see the total lack of US political leadership planning to prevent future elections from being “thrown” (McFarland) by foreign powers like Russia as it was in 2016. Even if they put Trump and his criminal enablers in front of a firing squad for treason – it won’t fix the holes in the system that allowed them access to start with.
All of these cronies only look out for themselves.
Manafort just increased Mueller’s leverage over him. Now, more likely than ever he joins Flynn in the choir, singing about Trump.