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Judge delays opening statements in 2nd Manafort trial

Atomic Kid

Atomic Kid

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https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/judge-delays-opening-statements-2nd-manafort-trial-n904451

he judge in Paul Manafort's criminal case in Washington is giving the former Trump campaign chairman's defense team more time to prepare for trial. U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson says jury selection in Manafort's trial on charges of acting as an unregistered foreign agent will begin as scheduled on Sept. 17, but she's delaying opening statements until the following week. Jackson made the ruling Tuesday after Manafort's attorneys argued that they needed more time to sort through the more than 1,000 pieces of evidence the government intends to introduce at trial related to his Ukrainian lobbying and political consulting work.

The trial will come about a month after a jury in Virginia convicted Manafort on eight felony counts and deadlocked on 10 others.
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The 'official' story here of course is the Manafort team says it needs more time to prepare. But what I'm wondering if this may be an indication that the negotiations between Manafort, the prosecution and Mueller are back on again.
 
That was my first thought as well. Funny though that the Mueller team wanted it to start on time though. I'm guessing they hold all the leverage here.
 
Atomic Kid said:
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/judge-delays-opening-statements-2nd-manafort-trial-n904451



The 'official' story here of course is the Manafort team says it needs more time to prepare. But what I'm wondering if this may be an indication that the negotiations between Manafort, the prosecution and Mueller are back on again.
Click to expand...

Eh... Maybe.

It really sounds like Mueller has all the goods and doesn't really need Manafort for any deal, but anything's possible.

It's likely why the purported last attempt a deal fell through.
 
Atomic Kid said:
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/judge-delays-opening-statements-2nd-manafort-trial-n904451



The 'official' story here of course is the Manafort team says it needs more time to prepare. But what I'm wondering if this may be an indication that the negotiations between Manafort, the prosecution and Mueller are back on again.
Click to expand...

What is the point for fighting for a plea deal now? He already getting 80 years and will die in prison. Unless that's part of the deal...
 
The second trial is coming on the heels of the first. Playing devil’s advocate here, I imagine gearing up for another major trial is a daunting task. I was surprised how quickly the first jury was seated and that the trial concluded so quickly. Of course the defense failing to call witnesses sped things up a bit.
 
Mach said:
That was my first thought as well. Funny though that the Mueller team wanted it to start on time though. I'm guessing they hold all the leverage here.
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You can be almost 100% positive that it was the Manafort legal team that leaked the story of the previous negotiations to the media and not Mueller. Was that Manafort's way of communicating to Trump that if a pardon isn't forthcoming fairly soon that he has other options he can and will explore?
 
Tanngrisnir said:
Eh... Maybe.

It really sounds like Mueller has all the goods and doesn't really need Manafort for any deal, but anything's possible.

It's likely why the purported last attempt a deal fell through.
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Doesn't matter what Mueller has. It matter what he can prove. And having another high level witness corroborate testimony will always carry weight in negotiations.
 
Atomic Kid said:
You can be almost 100% positive that it was the Manafort legal team that leaked the story of the previous negotiations to the media and not Mueller. Was that Manafort's way of communicating to Trump that if a pardon isn't forthcoming fairly soon that he has other options he can and will explore?
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I dunno... I am not sure about the pardon process and how preemptively it can be handed out.
 
NeverTrumpGOP said:
What is the point for fighting for a plea deal now? He already getting 80 years and will die in prison. Unless that's part of the deal...
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Manafort may be part of trump's "Joint Defense Agreement", where the attorneys for the separate cases work together sharing information and strategy. If so, with all the Russia related stuff to come to public light in the 2nd trial, it may be in Trump's best interest to not have these items come out as public and legal record, and the JDA attorneys might be working to that effect.

Reference: (Daily Beast)Trump’s Lawyers Plot Joint Defenses With Others Caught in Mueller Probe
 
Atomic Kid said:
You can be almost 100% positive that it was the Manafort legal team that leaked the story of the previous negotiations to the media and not Mueller. Was that Manafort's way of communicating to Trump that if a pardon isn't forthcoming fairly soon that he has other options he can and will explore?
Click to expand...
Sounds plausible to me, Kid.
 
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