Emptywheel: A Report Talking About "COLLUSION" Is Coming This Week From Mueller

[kpete]

THE CONCLUSORY REPORT IS NOT COMING NEXT WEEK
BUT-
A REPORT TALKING ABOUT “COLLUSION” IS COMING THIS WEEK

............

....... As I noted back in November when Mueller’s prosecutors declared Manafort to have breached his plea agreement, this sentencing memo presents an opportunity for Mueller to “report” what they’ve found — at least with respect to all the criminal actions they know Manafort committed, including those he lied about while he was supposed to be cooperating — without anyone at DOJ or the White House suppressing the most damning bits. DOJ won’t be able to weigh in because a sentencing memo is not a major action requiring an urgent memo to the Attorney General. And the White House will get no advance warning because Big Dick Toilet Salesman Matt Whitaker is no longer in the reporting chain.


So, as noted, Mueller will have an opportunity to lay out:

The details of Manafort’s sleazy influence peddling, including his modus operandi of projecting his own client’s corruption onto his opponents

The fact that Manafort already pled guilty to conspiring with a suspected Russian intelligence asset

The details about how Manafort — ostensibly working for “free” — got paid in 2016, in part via kickbacks from a Super PAC that violated campaign finance law, possibly in part by Tom Barrack who was using Manafort and Trump as a loss-leader to Middle Eastern graft, and in part by deferred payments or debt relief from Russian-backed oligarchs

Manafort’s role and understanding of the June 9 meeting, which is a prelude of sorts to the August 2 one

The dates and substance of Manafort’s ongoing communications with suspected Russian intelligence asset Konstantin Kilimnik, including the reasons why Manafort shared highly detailed polling data on August 2, 2016 that he knew would be passed on to his paymasters who just happened to be (in the case of Oleg Deripaska) a central player in the election year operation

The ongoing efforts to win Russia relief from the American Ukrainian-related sanctions by pushing a “peace” plan that would effectively give Russia everything it wants

Manafort’s ongoing discussions with Trump and the Administration, up to and including discussions laying out how if Manafort remains silent about items two through six, Trump will pardon him

Because those items are all within the substance of the crimes Manafort pled guilty to or lied about during his failed cooperation, they’re all squarely within the legitimate content of a sentencing memo. And we should expect the sentencing memo in DC to be at least as detailed as the EDVA one; I expect it, like the EDVA one and like Manafort’s plea deal, will be accompanied by exhibits such as the EDVA one showing that Manafort had bank accounts to the tune of $25,704,669.72 for which suspected Russian intelligence asset Konstantin Kilimnik was listed as a beneficial owner in 2012. Heck, we might even get to see the polling data Manafort shared, knowing it was going to Russia, which was an exhibit to Manafort’s breach determination.

The only thing limiting how much detail we’ll get about these things (as well as about how Manafort served as a secret agent of Russian backed Ukrainian oligarchs for years) is the ongoing sensitivities of the material, whether because it’s grand jury testimony, SIGINT collection, or a secret Mueller intends to spring on other defendants down the road.

It’s the latter point that will be most telling. As I noted, thus far, the silences about Manafort’s cooperation are — amazingly — even more provocative than the snippets we learned via the breach determination. We’ll likely get a read on Friday whether Mueller has ongoing equities that would lead him to want to keep these details secret. And the only thing that would lead Mueller to keep details of the conspiracy secret is if he plans to charge it in an overarching conspiracy indictment.

We may also get information, however, that will make it far more difficult for Trump to pardon Manafort.

So, yeah, there’s a report coming out this week. But it’s not The Report.


MOTR:

Link to tweet

https://www.emptywheel.net/2019/02/20/questions-to-ask-before-reporting-a-breaking-mueller-report/



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from today:

Link to tweet

https://www.emptywheel.net/2019/02/20/the-significance-of-the-rod-rosenstein-bill-barr-window/

[watoos]

1. So the emptywheel is a better source than CNN,

I can believe that.

Maybe the new Fox girl hired by CNN is behind CNN's oops headline?

[DownriverDem]

2. What about Barr

won't he give trump the heads up?

[Claritie Pixie]

3. CNN also reporting that the DOJ will make an announcement regarding this.

That sounds definitive, hopefully they'll give context.

Ongoing investigations will not be in the report.

Individuals who have not yet been indicted will not be in the report.

[bluescribbler]

4. Get the popcorn ready.

Fire up the DVR for Rachel Maddow and Lawrence O'Donnell.