Paul Manafort took a very favorable plea agreement today. 5 of the 7 federal charges were dropped and the 10 remaining state charges were dropped. I wonder what information and about whom he has that would be that valuable.

hmmmmmm....I was wrong about him...never thought he'd turn because he's in so much debt to the Russian thugs that if he ever walked, he'd be in danger...wonder if a witness protection plan for him and his family are part of the deal...

Trump musta soiled his undies when he was informed that Manafort, his former campaign manager who he called "a good man, a brave man" after he was convicted in his first trial, has now pled guilty and agreed to cooperate with Mueller...

Trump is prolly drafting an executive order to make "flipping" illegal...

Russian thugs?

You know he did work for a Ukrainian company right?

This is pathetic.

I think this helps Trump.

All manafort's charges are pre-trump... Nice try tho... 😟

yes the charges are...but a trial could have opened up and brought to the public's attention paths that led to reasons Manafort was hired to run the campaign in the first place, and possibly even worse stuff.

I mean, just conjecture here, but what was in his background that would have made him an attractive candidate to Trump...and/or private citizen Trump?

Trump is probably relieved that there will be no trial.

Z, I am interested in why he received such a good deal. I did not mention Russia or Trump. To do so would be purely speculative and inappropriate. I do find it startlingly news that he received such a good deal.

He owes Oleg Deripaska, a Russian thug, $10M...the Ukrainians Manafort worked for were fighting the Ukraine rebels...Manafort's Ukrainian clients were tied to Russia and Putin who wanted to bring the Ukraine back under Russian control...that is why Putin annexed Crimea, and why the world imposed the sanctions on Russia in the first place...

it was these sanctions that may be the quid, in a potential quid pro quo

Here's some background on Deripaska:

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/06/27/paul-manafort-mueller-russia-oleg-deripaska-680630 

https://qz.com/1246547/the-us-is-sanctioning-26-big-name-russians-including-putins-sometime-son-in-law/ 

his work for pro-Putin in Ukraine is well documented.
I've been saying from day one the investigation will be more about money for influence than messing with actual votes...and he is the key player.

which is why Trump wins if these items do not come to light in a trial.

remember way back when...I said the RNC change in its pro-Ukraine policy during the convention, to add language that would help Russia by changing the types of weapons the US would provide the Ukrainians in the fight against Russia, was the first public hint that there was a connection between the Trump campaign and Russia...as I recall, I said that might've been a "canary in the mine" moment...

if the Mueller investigation has gotten Manafort's agreement to cooperate, we will know for sure about that and a lot of other stuff connecting the dots between Trump and Russia...

unless Trump fires everybody while trying to scuttle the special investigation...

How much cooperation did dipstick get from that jackwad Popadapalus?

This was done for the illusion of this having a point and going somewhere. It's dead.

I hope that Mueller is allowed to complete the investigation, just as Starr completed his investigation of Clinton and Jaworski (after Nixon fired Cox) was wrapping things up when Nixon resigned...

with Manafort's cooperation secured, I'm hoping Mueller can wrap this up soon...but there's a political calculation involved here...the midterm elections are about 50 days away...

only people left are Roger Stone and Trump, and Trump won't be interviewed...

I heard some legal beagles say Manafort's flip has also increased the likelihood of indictments against Jared and Jr., two other high ranking Trump campaign advisers who attended the abortion meeting with the Russians in Trump Tower....

...stay tuned...

I agree. My guess is that Trump will "take the hit" for them- not resign or be impeached, but whatever he needs to do to make all this go away- not. Undoubtedly, there is other stuff being investigated with charges to come. Now, lets see if Trump turns against Manafort for flipping...

Still waiting on "that call"...

From the DONALD...

"I'M YOUR ONLY HUCKLEBERRY NOW...DONNIE"

AND YOUR ONLY WAY OUT...

LET'S TAKE DOWN MUELLER AND COMEY
TOGETHER...