Five Notable Nuggets From Manafort Scandal

A Justice Integrity Project photo shows CNN’s Justice Department correspondent Evan Perez reporting on the Sept. 14 guilty plea by former Trump Campaign Chairman Paul Manafort

Paul Manafort admitted during his federal court plea deal to too many crimes to mention here or in any other news commentary of reasonable length.

U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson told her courtroom in the nation’s capital that she had never previously heard such a long litany of admissions, which are reported here in a court filing.

Our wrap-up below of admissions by the corrupt global strategist and former Trump 2016 campaign chairman features five notable crime scenarios selected because they may have been overlooked by busy readers or even reporters. Also below is an appendix excerpting major news treatments curated from elsewhere.

This editor covered Manafort’s guilty pleas on Sept. 14 at the federal courthouse in Washington, DC and the defendant’s trial last month at the federal courthouse across the Potomac River from the District in Alexandria, Virginia.

It’s being widely reportedly that Manafort could now be sharing secrets deeply damaging to President Trump and his family on such topics as the 2016 Trump Tower strategy meeting with Donald Trump Jr. and Russian representatives and also the reasons why the Trump campaign made a pro-Russia change in the GOP campaign platform under Manafort’s leadership at the Republican National Convention in 2016.

More generally, the public sees the remarkable number of high-level aides to Trump who have been indicted and convicted. These include Manafort’s longtime aide Rick Gates. Gates was also the 2016 Deputy National Campaign chairman and a leader of the Trump Inaugural. Others indicted and convicted include former Director of National Intelligence Michael Flynn and Trump’s longtime personal lawyer Michael Cohen.

Perhaps even more devastating to a Trump defense and other efforts to block an investigation are the massive documentation collected by Mueller’s team and other federal and state prosecution allies.

These documents encompass White House and other federal records, nearly all of Cohen’s professional records (possibly including tapes of conservations with Trump and others) and records kept by the Trump Organization’s long-serving Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg, shown at right, and likely including Trump’s secret tax returns.

Yet there are other important aspects to Manafort’s plea and forthcoming cooperation with prosecutors. Our picks as “notable news nuggets” are below

• Hiring ‘the Best’: Manafort Is ‘The Swamp’
• Manafort Admits To All Charges (Even those from the hung jury in Virginia)
• Guilt Includes $16 Million Fraudulent Loan From Would-be Army Secretary
• Mueller Probe Is Not a ‘Witch hunt’ If Pro-Russian Party Paid Manafort To Hurt Hillary
• Forfeitures Now Meet or Exceed Mueller Probe’s Cost

Looking Ahead:

• ‘Claw back’ Precedent For United States To Seize Trump Assets Gained Via Crime?
• Real Reason Why Manafort Backed Mike Pence For Vice President