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Trump's lawyer secretly floated pardons for Manafort and Flynn. He might have crossed a line.
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When special counsel Robert Mueller was finalizing charges against former Trump advisers Paul Manafort and Michael Flynn last year, President Trump's top lawyer secretly told attorneys for the two men that Trump might pardon them.
We don't know if Trump authorized the overture which was first reported by the New York Times or if it was part of an attempt to dissuade Manafort and Flynn from cooperating with Robert Mueller's Russia probe. But the move by then-Trump lawyer John Dowd raises an important legal question: If the reports are true, would he potentially be guilty of witness tampering or obstruction of justice?
To answer this, I reached out to eleven legal experts. Their full responses, edited for clarity and style, are below.
Does that suggest a plot by Trump moles at Time to finally find a way to get Sessions fired to make way for a replacement willing to fire Mueller?BearNIt said:
Jeff Sessions is on the cover of Times magazine. The history of those in the Trump administration who have appeared on Times is not great, soon after their appearance they're gone. The Big Cheeto doesn't like anyone taking his covers, whether real or not.
Now that you mention it.mikecohen said:Does that suggest a plot by Trump moles at Time to finally find a way to get Sessions fired to make way for a replacement willing to fire Mueller?BearNIt said:
Jeff Sessions is on the cover of Times magazine. The history of those in the Trump administration who have appeared on Times is not great, soon after their appearance they're gone. The Big Cheeto doesn't like anyone taking his covers, whether real or not.
Not to be too paranoid or negative (which I am usually not); but it doesn't have to be Trump playing the 3 dimensional chess with Time Mag. It could be more thoughtful Machiavellians in his group (like maybe Miller or others of that ilk) playing the 3 dimensional chess with Trump, through Time Mag.bearister said:
Yep, that's tRump, always playing 3 dimensional chess.
I'm gonna repeat myself here, for the reason that the post to which I am responding is so directly relevant to my point:bearister said:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2017/dec/08/donald-trump-russia-investigation-key-questions-latest-news-collusion-timeline?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
Manafort has been the only hold out on reaching a plea deal Robert Mueller. The speculation is he has something big on Trump and was expecting a pardon, and that's why he played hardball on a plea deal.Quote:
Judge: "I don't really understand what is left of your case."
Apparently his balls have dropped now that he is not talking about Benghazi or running for office and on his way out.iwantwinners said:
Trey Gowdy likes Mueller
All and all I like Trey Gowdy. He's a prosecutor at heart.BearNIt said:Apparently his balls have dropped now that he is not talking about Benghazi or running for office and on his way out.iwantwinners said:
Trey Gowdy likes Mueller
You are definitely right, he is a prosecutor at heart. If you were trying to get a conviction, you would want him on your team.iwantwinners said:All and all I like Trey Gowdy. He's a prosecutor at heart.BearNIt said:Apparently his balls have dropped now that he is not talking about Benghazi or running for office and on his way out.iwantwinners said:
Trey Gowdy likes Mueller
Michael Cohen is a pretty smart cookie - not just anyone can graduate from the esteemed Thomas J. Cooley School of Law (generally regarded as one of the 200 okayest law schools in the country) - so I would be pretty surprised if he would have been incompetent enough to maintain any evidence of wrongdoing.BearNIt said:
FBI has raided Michael Cohen's office and has obtained evidence linked to payments made for NDAs and work for Trump organization and its dealings with any Russians that may have happened. What does Mueller know already and was anything that would support illegal campaign finance charges or further connections between the Trump Organization and the Russians? Where does this put Trump Jr. as he is the head of the Trump Organization? Trump threw Cohen under the bus and then backed it over him. Was the probable cause for the warrant was the Stormy saga or something about the Trump Organization like money laundering? To me it looks like Mueller had something and to prevent Trump and his ilk from claiming he was being dishonest, he turned it over to the Justice Dept. so they could execute it.
If he'd run for president he'd win the Rep nomination, IMO.BearNIt said:You are definitely right, he is a prosecutor at heart. If you were trying to get a conviction, you would want him on your team.iwantwinners said:All and all I like Trey Gowdy. He's a prosecutor at heart.BearNIt said:Apparently his balls have dropped now that he is not talking about Benghazi or running for office and on his way out.iwantwinners said:
Trey Gowdy likes Mueller
BearNIt said:
FBI has raided Michael Cohen's office and has obtained evidence linked to payments made for NDAs and work for Trump organization and its dealings with any Russians that may have happened. What does Mueller know already and was anything that would support illegal campaign finance charges or further connections between the Trump Organization and the Russians? Where does this put Trump Jr. as he is the head of the Trump Organization? Trump threw Cohen under the bus and then backed it over him. Was the probable cause for the warrant was the Stormy saga or something about the Trump Organization like money laundering? To me it looks like Mueller had something and to prevent Trump and his ilk from claiming he was being dishonest, he turned it over to the Justice Dept. so they could execute it.
You know you never reveal your sources.oski003 said:BearNIt said:
FBI has raided Michael Cohen's office and has obtained evidence linked to payments made for NDAs and work for Trump organization and its dealings with any Russians that may have happened. What does Mueller know already and was anything that would support illegal campaign finance charges or further connections between the Trump Organization and the Russians? Where does this put Trump Jr. as he is the head of the Trump Organization? Trump threw Cohen under the bus and then backed it over him. Was the probable cause for the warrant was the Stormy saga or something about the Trump Organization like money laundering? To me it looks like Mueller had something and to prevent Trump and his ilk from claiming he was being dishonest, he turned it over to the Justice Dept. so they could execute it.
Why are you asking for guesses? You obviously know everything that is happening in real time. Do you have inside sources?
Rod Rosenstein and a Federal Judge who was a Republican appointee approved the warrant. Not sure who could be higher in this instance. Given the President's comments just a few minutes ago where he called out Rosenstein, both Rosenstein and Mueller are in precarious positions. We could have a Nixon moment and a constitutional crisis coming down the road.B.A. Bearacus said:
Richard Painter:
"A warrant for search of a lawyer's office requires substantial evidence of wrongdoing. And that there is. To search Michael Cohen's home and office, the FBI had to clear a higher-than-normal bar."
