Federal judge may cross out Manafort's conviction

Submitted by Alligator Ed on Fri, 05/04/2018 - 8:13pm

This is, as of yet, only a small story but one which could have immense repercussions politically.

Federal judge casts doubt on a Mueller case. The case in point is against the unsavory, money-laundering, playing both sides Paul Manafort.

Although in my estimation, Manafort has earned the prison time probably due him, he is getting in an improper way.

A Virginia federal judge expressed deep skepticism of the special counsel’s bank fraud case against President Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, during a court hearing Friday morning.

“You don’t really care about Mr. Manafort’s bank fraud,” U.S. District Court Judge T.S. Ellis III told Mueller’s prosecutors during the hearing.

“You really care about getting information Mr. Manafort can give you that would reflect on Mr. Trump and lead to his prosecution or impeachment,” Ellis added, according to The Washington Post.

So true. Even if Manafort does get convicted by a different court and a different set of facts, a precedent may be in place to challenge other convictions which correspond to the judge's warning. The net effect will be to paralyze the Müller Star Chamber and set it back to zero on Rick Gates, and perhaps others (are you paying attention Gen. Flynn?)

To neutralize Müller will paralyze the Dems. Their whole raison d'être is now boiled down to two public things and one very unadmitted idea.

The hysterically publicized two things are:
1. We're not Trump
2. We are the party of the people

The now overt but still unofficial idea is "I still wanna ride on the gravy train".

1. We're not Trump: a bad card to play now since Trump's popularity, although still below 50%, is still rising, while the Dim's popularity continues to sink. Furthermore, with the GDP rising, even though most of the benefits redounds to the 1%, it is still better than when Obomber ran the show (actually he didn't run the show, the CIA and Wall Street ran the show for him).

2. The "peoples' benefactors": the sheen has been washed off that obscene lie by countless revelations of Democratic misconduct. Whenever challenged, these intellectual and morally challenged individuals uniformly sing "Russia! Russia! Russia!" Most of the population sees through that lie.

If the Judge's challenge to the Manafort conviction is upheld, with a "start over" decree, then the Dem's will be politically paralyzed for the required analysis to adopt a more plausible doctrine than "we're not Trump". I don't foresee a new donkey learning new tricks any time soon.

Donkeys learning a new idea:

One more assumption here:

Assuming the Müller disaccreditation occurs before mid-Terms, the blue wave will indeed be swirling down the toilet bowl. Then perhaps a nascent 3rd Party can arise, and I don't mean the CIA-Dim alliance.

Awaken, sleeping Democrats! You are going to Face That Day your lies are blown apart.

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXQiXDZ7e7E]

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Comments

Submitted by snoopydawg on Fri, 05/04/2018 - 8:33pm

This is what I thought about Manafort

and others. Flynn is accused of talking to Russia about lifting the sanctions. I have no idea if this is true or not, but I do know that he did talk to someone there to try to get Russia from voting against Israel's illegal settlements. He did that after Bibi asked Kushner to tell him to do it. Oh what a tangled web ... but this is rarely spoken about.

The charges are outside the scope of Mueller’s mandate to investigate any collusion between the Trump campaign and Russian government, Manafort’s lawyers have argued.

Off topic, but this site needs a laugh.

We are the party of the people

Clinton: Being a capitalist 'probably' hurt me with Dem voters

“It’s hard to know, but I mean if you’re in the Iowa caucuses and 41 percent of Democrats are socialists or self-described socialists, and I’m asked ‘Are you a capitalist?’ and I say, ‘Yes, but with appropriate regulation and appropriate accountability.’ You know, that probably gets lost in the ‘Oh my gosh, she’s a capitalist!’ ” Clinton said.

Clinton said that powerful companies in America are "disrupting our democracy" by worsening income inequality, and that one step toward fixing the problem would be voting Republicans out of office in 2018.

—

The Washington Generals should probably sue the Democrats for copyright infringement.

Submitted by Alligator Ed on Fri, 05/04/2018 - 10:45pm

Okay, I'm laughing at poor, poor Hillary and her travails

@snoopydawg Yet another excuse from the Queen of Lies and Excuses. Well over 40 different excuses by now.

Thanks for the Flynn-Kushner update of which I was unaware.

Flynn's action when he was appointed to Trump's team may not have been against the law but I am not a lawyer. If such was true, action not illegal, then why would Flynn plead guilty to it? The story again devolves to the Müller witch hunt.

If the Judge rules against Manafort's conviction, an obviously huge legal precedent would be set for action on behalf of others convicted in this mess. Such legal blowback against Müller's team and rule book would have the effect of paralyzing future Müller actions until the counter suits are settled.

Submitted by snoopydawg on Fri, 05/04/2018 - 11:25pm

Flynn pled guilty to lying to the FBI

@Alligator Ed

He didn't know that he had been wiretapped and so his answers to the FBI were different from what he said on their wiretap. This is what quite a few people have stated. I've read a few articles that explained why he did that.

It might be in the link I sent you a few months ago that an ex FBI agent discussed what is going to happen soon. He said that a lot republicans are going to be arrested and that is why they aren't running for reelection. This has something to do with the investigation into Hillary's fraudulent foundation. Whether it's true or not remains to be seen.m

However, the republicans told Rosenstein that if he didn't release some documents to them that they were going to vote for impeachment. There is no way that Ryan would let that come up for a vote though. The kos kids are making fun of the republicans because they think that Putin has corrupted them too. The conspiracies that they have made up are quite fascinating. Good for a chuckle if you need another laugh.

You are so right about the "if" the judge rules against Mueller that a lot of cases might be in jeopardy. His original job was to find evidence of collusion between Trump and Putin to rig the election. The 13 ~~ham sandwiches~~ that Mueller indicated might fit into that category, but still, that is a silly charge because most of the ads were placed after the election and they were targeting Russians, not Americans.

—

The Washington Generals should probably sue the Democrats for copyright infringement.

Submitted by dfarrah on Sat, 05/05/2018 - 11:01am

Mueller has been

@snoopydawg setting up perjury traps.

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dfarrah

Submitted by snoopydawg on Sat, 05/05/2018 - 5:43pm

I would be charged for perjury if I had been wiretapped

@dfarrah

I have problems remembering what I've said, read or watched for 40 years. Recently I found out that I even made up an event that never happened but for some reason I was sure that it did. I have learned to roll with looking stupid because I feel like I have a good excuse for doing that. This is why I write copious notes, but then I forget where I put them. I was self conscious about this for many years until someone explained why it was happening to me. So if you see that I'm repeating the same comment more than once then just ignore me.

I've learned to pick what is important in the big scheme of things.

—

The Washington Generals should probably sue the Democrats for copyright infringement.

Submitted by snoopydawg on Sat, 05/05/2018 - 9:50pm

Lol. Case in point

@snoopydawg

I don't remember writing this and it was less than 5 hours ago. The ever lasting gift.

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The Washington Generals should probably sue the Democrats for copyright infringement.

Submitted by WoodsDweller on Fri, 05/04/2018 - 11:07pm

This is why

I've been phrasing the "blue wave" as a 20 point move away from Republicans. People still and increasingly hate Democrats.
Anyone with the testicular fortitude to walk up to a microphone and say "nationalize the banks" is going to get 40% of Democrats, 10% of Republicans, and 60% of Independents to vote for them.

—

"The greatest shortcoming of the human race is our inability to understand the exponential function." -- Albert Bartlett
"A species that is hurtling toward extinction has no business promoting slow incremental change." -- Caitlin Johnstone

Submitted by dfarrah on Sat, 05/05/2018 - 11:04am

I would bet more repubs

@WoodsDweller than just 10%. After all, the lower classes of repubs hate the banks, too.

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dfarrah

Submitted by The Voice In th... on Sun, 05/06/2018 - 11:07am

(R)'s never talk about banks.

@dfarrah Just Ma and Pa grocery stores and the like. They publicly worship at the the shrine of Small Business yet they sold their souls long ago to Global banks and Agribusiness and especially the Merchants of Death.

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I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.

Submitted by Pricknick on Sat, 05/05/2018 - 12:40am

I've heard of worthless donkeys and mules before.

Dirty Sally comes to mind.
[video:https://youtu.be/22FB3MkGiII]

—

Regardless of the path in life I chose, I realize it's always forward, never straight.

Submitted by Alligator Ed on Sat, 05/05/2018 - 1:34am

More news about Judge Ellis's rulings

Govt to Hand Over Unredacted Rosenstein Memo Detailing Mueller’s Scope
The Federal Judge in the Manafort case is not messing around.
Judge T.S. Ellis lost his temper Friday in a Manafort hearing and accused Mueller’s prosecutors of using the case against Trump’s former campaign chairman to oust the President from office.
Mueller’s wheels are falling off.
“You don’t really care about Mr. Manafort’s bank fraud,” District Judge T.S. Ellis said to prosecutor Michael Dreeben, at times losing his temper. Ellis said prosecutors were interested in Manafort because of his potential to provide material that would lead to Trump’s “prosecution or impeachment,” Ellis said.
“That’s what you’re really interested in,” said Ellis, who was appointed by President Ronald Reagan.
Judge Ellis also ordered the government to hand over the unredacted Rosenstein memo.
The Judge told Mueller’s prosecutors, “We don’t want anyone with unfettered power.”
Mueller’s prosecutors argued they have certain authorities given to them which were laid out in Rosenstein’s August 2017 memo.
Judge Ellis scoffed at Mueller’s prosecutors who argued the memo has to be kept a secret because of ongoing investigations and ordered the unredacted memo to be released within a two week time frame.
Mueller’s team says its authorities are laid out in documents including the August 2017 scope memo – and that some powers are actually secret because they involve ongoing investigations and national security matters that cannot be publicly disclosed.
''
Ellis seemed amused and not persuaded.
He summed up the Special Counsel’s Office as, “We said this was what [the] investigation was about, but we are not bound by it and we were lying.”
He referenced the common exclamation from NFL announcers, saying: “C’mon man!”
The judge also —gave the government two weeks to hand over the unredacted “scope memo” or provide an explanation why not after prosecutors were reluctant to do so, claiming it has material that doesn’t pertain to Manafort.
“I’ll be the judge of that,” Ellis said.
http:// www.thegatewaypundit.com/2018/05/judge-in-manafort-case-orders-govt-to-h...

Judge Ellis is not fooling around!

On Monday, the Assistant Attorney General said in a letter that the DOJ would not be handing over the unredacted Rosenstein memo detailing Mueller’s scope.

In response, Freedom Caucus Chairman, Mark Meadows drafted “articles of impeachment” against Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein as a “last resort.”

On Tuesday, Rosenstein freaked and referred to the impeachment threat as “extortion.”

On Wednesday morning, in response to the stonewalling by the DOJ, Trump threatened to use his presidential powers in order to get the unredacted Rosenstein memo.

Rod: hate to see you go--Not!

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrIjMzBr-ck]

Submitted by dfarrah on Sat, 05/05/2018 - 11:07am

LOL.

@Alligator Ed "The judge also —gave the government two weeks to hand over the unredacted “scope memo” or provide an explanation why not after prosecutors were reluctant to do so, claiming it has material that doesn’t pertain to Manafort."

Hmmmm, I figure it has no material pertaining to Manafort.

Govt to Hand Over Unredacted Rosenstein Memo Detailing Mueller’s Scope The Federal Judge in the Manafort case is not messing around. Judge T.S. Ellis lost his temper Friday in a Manafort hearing and accused Mueller’s prosecutors of using the case against Trump’s former campaign chairman to oust the President from office. Mueller’s wheels are falling off. “You don’t really care about Mr. Manafort’s bank fraud,” District Judge T.S. Ellis said to prosecutor Michael Dreeben, at times losing his temper. Ellis said prosecutors were interested in Manafort because of his potential to provide material that would lead to Trump’s “prosecution or impeachment,” Ellis said. “That’s what you’re really interested in,” said Ellis, who was appointed by President Ronald Reagan. Judge Ellis also ordered the government to hand over the unredacted Rosenstein memo. The Judge told Mueller’s prosecutors, “We don’t want anyone with unfettered power.” Mueller’s prosecutors argued they have certain authorities given to them which were laid out in Rosenstein’s August 2017 memo. Judge Ellis scoffed at Mueller’s prosecutors who argued the memo has to be kept a secret because of ongoing investigations and ordered the unredacted memo to be released within a two week time frame. Mueller’s team says its authorities are laid out in documents including the August 2017 scope memo – and that some powers are actually secret because they involve ongoing investigations and national security matters that cannot be publicly disclosed. '' Ellis seemed amused and not persuaded. He summed up the Special Counsel’s Office as, “We said this was what [the] investigation was about, but we are not bound by it and we were lying.” He referenced the common exclamation from NFL announcers, saying: “C’mon man!” The judge also —gave the government two weeks to hand over the unredacted “scope memo” or provide an explanation why not after prosecutors were reluctant to do so, claiming it has material that doesn’t pertain to Manafort. “I’ll be the judge of that,” Ellis said. http:// www.thegatewaypundit.com/2018/05/judge-in-manafort-case-orders-govt-to-h... Judge Ellis is not fooling around! On Monday, the Assistant Attorney General said in a letter that the DOJ would not be handing over the unredacted Rosenstein memo detailing Mueller’s scope. In response, Freedom Caucus Chairman, Mark Meadows drafted “articles of impeachment” against Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein as a “last resort.” On Tuesday, Rosenstein freaked and referred to the impeachment threat as “extortion.” On Wednesday morning, in response to the stonewalling by the DOJ, Trump threatened to use his presidential powers in order to get the unredacted Rosenstein memo. Rod: hate to see you go--Not! [video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrIjMzBr-ck]

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dfarrah

Submitted by gulfgal98 on Sat, 05/05/2018 - 5:24am

This whole Mueller investigation

should have been concluded months ago. Here is my rationale for that. There were not that many individuals high enough up in the Trump campaign organization (or any campaign organization) that would have been able to create the Russia influence great enough to affect the outcome of the election. For this reason, any investigation into the Trump campaign should have taken only a few months at the most.

What we are seeing is the Mueller investigation has, from the beginning, veered off into the woods searching for any remote possibility of connecting the Russians to the Trump campaign in any remote way. This appears to be a case of if we throw enough dirt against the wall, maybe some of it will stick. Manafort is a dirty guy who has worked with the Podestas in the past, but what this indictment has to do with investigating the Trump campaign is puzzling.

Let's face it. No politician is clean and no businessman is clean. But when the Dems are throwing a bunch of dirt in the hopes of impeaching Trump, they better clean up their own house first, particularly the house of Clinton.

Meanwhile, Puerto Rico is still suffering from hurricane Maria, the water in Flint, Michigan is still poisoned, we are still bombing in seven (or is it eight?) countries in illegal wars, millions of Americans are jobless and homeless, and nearly half of our country is existing near or below the poverty level. And the best the Democratic party can come up with is Russia!

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Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?

“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F. Kennedy

Submitted by Sirena on Sat, 05/05/2018 - 7:42am

And it even gets better, Alligator Ed!

Mueller seeks delay in case alleging Russians interfered in U.S. presidential election
By JOSH GERSTEIN 05/04/2018 06:56 PM EDT
Share on Facebook Share on Twitter
Prosecutors from special counsel Robert Mueller’s office are seeking to delay the first court hearing in a criminal case charging three Russian companies and 13 Russian citizens with using social media and other means to foment strife among Americans in advance of the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

The 13 people charged in the high-profile indictment in February are considered unlikely to ever appear in a U.S. court. The three businesses accused of facilitating the alleged Russian troll farm operation — the Internet Research Agency, Concord Management and Consulting, and Concord Catering — were also expected to simply ignore the American criminal proceedings.

Last month, however, a pair of Washington-area lawyers suddenly surfaced in the case, notifying the court that they represent Concord Management. POLITICO reported at the time that the move appeared to be a bid to force Mueller’s team to turn over relevant evidence to the Russian firm and perhaps even to bait prosecutors into an embarrassing dismissal in order to avoid disclosing sensitive information.

On Friday, Mueller’s prosecutors disclosed that Concord’s attorneys, Eric Dubelier and Kate Seikaly, had made a slew of discovery requests demanding nonpublic details about the case and the investigation. Prosecutors also asked a judge to postpone the formal arraignment of Concord Management set for next week.

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/05/04/mueller-russia-interference-el...

Maybe it’s time for Ferris Swan Mueller to take a day off?
Friday wasn’t a good one for him.

Submitted by Deja on Sun, 05/06/2018 - 12:30pm

A troll farm catering company?

@Sirena

. . . the Internet Research Agency, Concord Management and Consulting, and Concord Catering . . .

Man, those sure are some sneaky Russians, disguising the farm as a catering company. /s

Submitted by Alphalop on Sat, 05/05/2018 - 8:10am

I'm not sure if I've said it here, but since day one

Well, ok, maybe not since day one but pretty early on I started making the observation that this investigation had an extreme likelihood to backfire and or blow up and the Democrats faces.

It reeked too much of McCarthy and his ludicrous witch hunts.

I'm not suggesting that the Republicans are not corrupt, but the the entire system is so corrupt and that the Democrats and Republicans corruption is so intertwined that one of two scenarios were likely.

Scenario 1: The investigation has the potential to uncover democratic tomfoolery and is thwarted by road blocks from corrupt members of the dems as well as the repubs and goes nowhere, leaving the Democrats looking ineffective, foolish and wasteful of the people's time by not addressing real issues and bungling an investigation that they pounded the drums for months saying without a doubt this would lead to the removal of Trump.

Scenario 2: The investigation leads towards evidence of Democratic tomfoolery that isn't successfully blocked, exposing said corruption, making the Democrats looking ineffective, foolish and wasteful of the people's time and morally bankrupt clowns projecting their own misdeeds on others.

I think either of these scenarios are still quite possible and could have the opposite effect of a blue wave.

Democratic enthusiasm is at record low while conservative morale is at a high and I feel it's likely that a RED wave is a significant possibility as the conservatives make an effort to vote out of outrage that "their guys" were attacked for years with baseless accusations from the "socialists".

I apologize if this post is a bit disjointed, had a bad pain night and still not done my coffee so I hope it didn't come out too disjointed.

(Edited to fix a couple Autocorrupt errors and typo)

—

"I used to vote Republican & Democrat, I also used to shit my pants. Eventually I got smart enough to stop doing both things." -Me

Submitted by Sirena on Sat, 05/05/2018 - 8:31am

They could have just let Drumpf do himself in

@Alphalop @Alphalop
With friends like Giuliano, did he really need their help?

Submitted by dfarrah on Sat, 05/05/2018 - 11:20am

Trump isn't doing

@Sirena himself in. What the dems and the Mueller team are trying to do is a coup.

—

dfarrah

Submitted by gulfgal98 on Sat, 05/05/2018 - 2:06pm

Exactly!

@dfarrah This is exactly what the Democrats are doing which is another reason I have come to hate the Democratic party so much. The damage to the our country will be enormous if they pull off this coup.

What the dems and the Mueller team are trying to do is a coup.

This is more than Democrat versus Republican because the Democrats do not seem to have a problem with Pence who is a very scary dominionist. While Trump is an oligarch, he is not part of the Washington establishment and he is shaking up that establishment.

—

Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?

“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F. Kennedy

Submitted by dfarrah on Sat, 05/05/2018 - 7:16pm

I have come to hate the

@gulfgal98 dems, too. The party's transformation has been simply unbelievable.

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dfarrah

Submitted by dfarrah on Sat, 05/05/2018 - 11:18am

Scenario 1 has already

@Alphalop happened in regard to HRC, her foundation, and her personal server. As to other dems, Mueller and his team have no intention of acting on any dems who have done something illegal. One purpose of his team is to cover up any dem misdeeds, so there goes Scenario 2.

If it hadn't been for repubs in Congress investigating, we would know nothing of the corruption at the FBI and elsewhere.

—

dfarrah

Submitted by gulfgal98 on Sat, 05/05/2018 - 2:13pm

IMHO,

@dfarrah the corruption among individuals in Washington consists of both Democrats and Republicans, but the difference appears to be that the entire Democratic party structure is corrupt.

In just the six month period between October 30, 2017, through April 30, 2018, nearly 29,000 sealed indictments have been handed down in the federal courts. The average number of said indictments in recent hears has been 1,100 per year. I do not know exactly what that means, but I interpret it to mean something big is happening.

—

Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?

“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F. Kennedy

Submitted by dfarrah on Sat, 05/05/2018 - 7:09pm

Really?

@gulfgal98
29,000 sealed indictments due to the congressional repubs' investigation? Or can you explain further when you have time?

How do these indictments proceed?

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dfarrah

Submitted by gulfgal98 on Sat, 05/05/2018 - 7:44pm

No, I may not have been clear

@dfarrah The total number of sealed federal indictments for all offenses has previously averaged about 1,100 per year. However, in the last six months, there have been nearly 29.000 sealed federal indictments.

Here is a link about the number of sealed indictments as of the end of March. My number came from a YouTube video recently posted. Based upon the April 2 number cited in the above link, the nearly 29K number for the end of April would be reasonable.

—

Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?

“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F. Kennedy

Submitted by The Voice In th... on Sun, 05/06/2018 - 11:19am

I was going to joke

@gulfgal98
that it means that everyone who voted for Bernie in a caucus is being indicted.

Then I decided that maybe it wasn't a joke.

—

I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.

Submitted by Alphalop on Sat, 05/05/2018 - 9:01pm

@dfarrah The main reason I still

@dfarrah The main reason I still think scenario 2 has potential is due to the intertwining of their corruption.

If they manage to land a big enough charge on a Republican I wouldn't be surprised if he knows where some Democratic party bodies are buried and would strike a deal to testify for a reduced sentence.

If they can find the right thread and a diligent prosecutor pulls it the whole ball could come apart...

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"I used to vote Republican & Democrat, I also used to shit my pants. Eventually I got smart enough to stop doing both things." -Me

Submitted by snoopydawg on Sat, 05/05/2018 - 10:05pm

This is why Mueller is not going to finish the investigation

@Alphalop

until after midterms. If he finds no evidence of collusion the democrats will look pretty stupid for wasting people's time for two years.

ps ... hope you feel better soon. I've ridden the pain train way too many times and know how it interferes with your thinking.

—

The Washington Generals should probably sue the Democrats for copyright infringement.

Submitted by Alphalop on Sun, 05/06/2018 - 6:48am

Thanks Snoop!

@snoopydawg

Yeah, that train has been a rough ride, left the station in 2007 and hasn't stopped chugging along yet.

Unfortunately barring advances in stem cell research mine will continue until I'm dead or possibly paralyzed.

The real bitch of it is even if I get paralyzed I likely will still feel the pain, lol!

I'm just holding out for my robot body.

Let's go Science! Get on that!

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"I used to vote Republican & Democrat, I also used to shit my pants. Eventually I got smart enough to stop doing both things." -Me

Submitted by dfarrah on Sun, 05/06/2018 - 10:42am

Blessings to you. nt

@Alphalop

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dfarrah