I negotiated a cooperation deal for a target with Mueller’s office when he was US Atty and lemme tell ya, he’s not gonna give one to Flynn unless he implicates someone up the ladder. That means Kushner, Don Jr., or Big Daddy. They are all having indigestion tonight. https://twitter.com/NormEisen/status/933823480067428352
One more thing I learned about Mueller. When I was at State & he was at FBI we worked together on an investigation, & he loves surprises. Kushner, Donnie Jr. and the rest of the Trump crime family better keep their overnight bags handy. Pack shoes with no laces guys. https://twitter.com/normeisen/status/933868687282638848 ….. An alternative target: Paul Manafort.. Trump has effectively turned his back on Manafort. On the day Mueller announced charges against the man who once headed Trump’s campaign, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters that the indictment “has nothing to do with the president, has nothing to do with the president’s campaign or campaign activity.”
Prosecutors Seek Plea Deal With Manafort’s Former Son-in Law
Jeffrey Yohai, who worked with his father-in-law on real-estate deals, hasn’t been charged with any crime
.. Mr. Manafort’s daughter, Jessica, filed for divorce from Mr. Yohai earlier this year. Records show a divorce judgment was issued in August.
.. Mr. Manafort, his wife and daughter put at least $4.2 million into house-flipping projects, federal bankruptcy-court records show. Mr. Yohai put the four properties into corporate bankruptcy in December 2016, as the lender, Genesis, was moving toward foreclosure, records show.
.. In September, Mr. Yohai said in a federal court filing in Santa Ana, Calif. that Mr. Manafort and associates had “conspired to mislead” the judge about purchase offers that had materialized for the properties.
.. Mr. Manafort told his tax preparer that the construction loan would allow him to fully pay off the mortgage on another apartment.
.. After Genesis went to court to foreclose on the Brooklyn property, Mr. Manafort obtained loans from another bank based in Chicago, run by a Trump campaign adviser
.. Mr. Mueller accused Mr. Manafort of subsequently defrauding a bank when applying for a mortgage on the property. Although the property was used to generate rental income, Mr. Manafort told the bank that it was a second home for his daughter and Mr. Yohai, so he could get a greater loan amount, for $3.185 million, than he could have otherwise, the indictment says.
.. The indictment says that on Jan. 26, 2016, Mr. Manafort wrote to his then son-in-law about a visit from an appraiser to the condominium, saying, “[r]emember, he believes that you and” Jessica Manafort “are living there.”
Manafort proposes $12.5 million bail package
Assets to be pledged include Trump Tower apartment.
In exchange for pledging the properties, Manafort is seeking to be released from home confinement at his Alexandria, Va. condo and permitted to travel freely in Florida, Virginia, Washington, D.C. and New York.
.. Manafort also appears to be requesting an end to GPS monitoring that was imposed as part of the home confinement, although at a hearing Thursday, U.S. District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson seemed reluctant to discontinue that surveillance.
Mueller braces for challenges to his authority
The special counsel has won some early court victories in the Russia investigation, but with charges filed defense attorneys and others are lining up to rein in the probe.
.. “Whenever you operate in uncharted legal territory, and this would be an example, you’d expect defense lawyers to push the envelope and edges.. In a case like Manafort’s, Mueller may be wise to hand it over to DOJ for prosecution.. But Rotunda also said a court is unlikely to give a defendant standing to object to Mueller’s jurisdiction. “The only entity that could object is the DOJ,” he said... U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson has proposed should go to trial starting May 7.. Jackson also told the attorneys for Mueller and the defense that she’s considering issuing a gag order that limits the public statements both sides may make about the case... Chief Judge Beryl Howell of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruled last month in the special counsel’s favor when he tried to seek grand jury testimony from an attorney for Manafort and Gates... Richard Ben-Veniste, a former Watergate prosecutor, said that he expected defense lawyers representing indicted defendants to keep on challenging Mueller’s authority and jurisdiction. “I would also expect such challenges to be unavailing,” he said, “as Mueller’s authority to act is on firm legal ground.”