ABC trotted out Ken Starr, the independent counsel who investigated Bill Clinton today to give the opinion that Paul Manafort must have some really good stuff on the President which could bring Trump down. Otherwise, Mueller and his team would never have made a deal with Manafort.
These guys must be smoking something. It is possible, certainly, that Manafort has something to say on Trump, but the likelihood of that is slim. The deal got made because Manafort doesn't want to go through another costly trial and the Mueller team doesn't want to take the chance that they would lose the next time. Manafort was already facing 80 years in prison, so that's really the rest of his life. Even with his deal to limit prison time to ten years, it still puts him in his mid 80s when he would get out. All that Manafort got was to save the cost of the trial and to set it up so that his family got to keep their home and vacation place too. There was nothing to be gained by Mueller by going ahead with trial number 2. What would they get: the right to keep Manafort in prison from age 140 to age 175? The chance to throw his family out of their home? That's pointless.
So is it likely that Manafort will bring down Trump? No. If Manafort actually had something that could bring down the President, you can bet he would have parlayed that into something a lot better than what he got. The testimony to bring down Trump would be the proverbial Get Our of Jail Free Card. Manafort is the sort who would play that card without a second thought. For his part, Mueller is someone who would accept that play in a heartbeat. So most likely, Manafort will have nothing much to say about Trump.
This is the 55th of 55 smoking guns about which the left has been excited which won't pan out.
These guys must be smoking something. It is possible, certainly, that Manafort has something to say on Trump, but the likelihood of that is slim. The deal got made because Manafort doesn't want to go through another costly trial and the Mueller team doesn't want to take the chance that they would lose the next time. Manafort was already facing 80 years in prison, so that's really the rest of his life. Even with his deal to limit prison time to ten years, it still puts him in his mid 80s when he would get out. All that Manafort got was to save the cost of the trial and to set it up so that his family got to keep their home and vacation place too. There was nothing to be gained by Mueller by going ahead with trial number 2. What would they get: the right to keep Manafort in prison from age 140 to age 175? The chance to throw his family out of their home? That's pointless.
So is it likely that Manafort will bring down Trump? No. If Manafort actually had something that could bring down the President, you can bet he would have parlayed that into something a lot better than what he got. The testimony to bring down Trump would be the proverbial Get Our of Jail Free Card. Manafort is the sort who would play that card without a second thought. For his part, Mueller is someone who would accept that play in a heartbeat. So most likely, Manafort will have nothing much to say about Trump.
This is the 55th of 55 smoking guns about which the left has been excited which won't pan out.
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