Paul Manafort (Photo: Screen capture)
Former federal prosecutor Renato Mariotti unleashed an epic explainer on the recent news that former Donald Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort lied to investigators.
Manafort entered into a plea agreement and committed to cooperating with special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation. According to the recent court filings, Manafort breached that agreement by lying. Mueller said that he is moving forward with sentencing Manafort for the breach.
There was no statement about what Manafort lied about.
Mariotti explained that Manafort could have been promised a pardon in exchange for lying, but "but offering anything of value to someone in exchange for the commission of a federal crime is itself a federal crime."
Read the rest of his explainer below:
THREAD: What can we make of today's status report filed by Mueller indicating that Manafort lied to the FBI and to… https://t.co/foSHdDJsQp— Renato Mariotti (@Renato Mariotti) 1543277278.0
1/ Today Mueller filed a status report indicating that "Manafort committed federal crimes by lying to the Federal B… https://t.co/0ihj3Shhsf— Renato Mariotti (@Renato Mariotti) 1543277385.0
2/ The purpose of the status report is to keep the judge in one of Manafort's cases updated on the status of what i… https://t.co/lqWcvMP7ck— Renato Mariotti (@Renato Mariotti) 1543277471.0
3/ In this case (in the District of Columbia), Manafort pleaded guilty shortly before trial was set to begin and ag… https://t.co/Ia8QuYgPWD— Renato Mariotti (@Renato Mariotti) 1543277568.0
4/ This meant that Manafort couldn't cooperate against some people and not others. He also couldn't hide certain in… https://t.co/1Psw6Ebmjq— Renato Mariotti (@Renato Mariotti) 1543277671.0
5/ Today's filing indicates that Mueller believes he can prove that Manafort lied on multiple occasions. It's worth… https://t.co/J4LDclPxf5— Renato Mariotti (@Renato Mariotti) 1543277775.0
6/ That is very highly unusual, because typically flippers are completely on the government's team. Today's filing… https://t.co/BWlzmBVa7b— Renato Mariotti (@Renato Mariotti) 1543277890.0
7/ You might be asking yourself--why does it matter so much to prosecutors that a flipper cooperate 100%, on all ma… https://t.co/NXezldAt3n— Renato Mariotti (@Renato Mariotti) 1543277944.0
8/ The government needs to be assured that what he's telling them now is complete and accurate, and that they can r… https://t.co/KieX4QIFCA— Renato Mariotti (@Renato Mariotti) 1543278021.0
9/ Manafort is now in a worse position than if he didn't cooperate in the first place and just pleaded guilty. Muel… https://t.co/wsLIxS4UUG— Renato Mariotti (@Renato Mariotti) 1543278126.0
10/ So on top of pleading guilty, Mueller will "file a detailed sentencing submission" that "sets forth the nature… https://t.co/rMbTHeZVya— Renato Mariotti (@Renato Mariotti) 1543278208.0
11/ When sentencing a defendant, judges have very broad discretion to consider nearly everything. Federal law manda… https://t.co/zIgBmNC8mu— Renato Mariotti (@Renato Mariotti) 1543278283.0
12/ You can expect the judge, who has already had some harsh word for Manafort when he violated his bond conditions… https://t.co/x21qnlwMRC— Renato Mariotti (@Renato Mariotti) 1543278371.0
13/ (As it turns out, promoting "respect for the law" is another sentencing factor the judge must consider under fe… https://t.co/caBfglf82w— Renato Mariotti (@Renato Mariotti) 1543278499.0
14/ The short answer is "probably not." Today is not the first time Manafort's attorneys were made aware of Mueller… https://t.co/DCSxlD3lAJ— Renato Mariotti (@Renato Mariotti) 1543278617.0
15/ In addition, Manafort's attorneys were involved in drafting this report and said Manafort "believes" he has pro… https://t.co/LEYXTfU5fk— Renato Mariotti (@Renato Mariotti) 1543278710.0
16/ I thought Manafort was expecting a pardon before he pleaded guilty. In fact, his decision to go to trial in the… https://t.co/zGjzP0FjWk— Renato Mariotti (@Renato Mariotti) 1543278779.0
17/ Could Manafort have been promised a pardon in exchange for lying to the special counsel? Sure, but offering any… https://t.co/DiV6KtTMLn— Renato Mariotti (@Renato Mariotti) 1543278937.0
18/ What if it wasn't a quid pro quo, and a pardon was hinted at by Trump's lawyers but not explicitly in exchange… https://t.co/JG1JGkGhNV— Renato Mariotti (@Renato Mariotti) 1543279022.0
19/ Could Manafort have lied in the hopes of obtaining a pardon? Yes. Could he nonetheless receive a pardon? Sadly,… https://t.co/ivUhECDspe— Renato Mariotti (@Renato Mariotti) 1543279138.0
20/ Regardless of whether Manafort cooperated, or tried to cooperate, a pardon could have come nonetheless. Trump s… https://t.co/5J1dFUsbrT— Renato Mariotti (@Renato Mariotti) 1543279253.0
21/ But Mueller still knows everything Manafort told him. Would he use Manafort as a witness? He could try, but wou… https://t.co/3LUvAkUiZI— Renato Mariotti (@Renato Mariotti) 1543279309.0
22/ Lastly, Manafort did hurt himself in another way--by committing new crimes in late 2018, he opened himself up t… https://t.co/Ued5foXWFv— Renato Mariotti (@Renato Mariotti) 1543279420.0
23/ If Trump loses in 2020, you could imagine a Democratic administration deciding to prosecute Manafort for those… https://t.co/xz38KUHWA1— Renato Mariotti (@Renato Mariotti) 1543279455.0
