Legal Experts Say Manafort Could Be Cutting Plea Deal as Judge Suddenly Delays Proceedings

[brooklynite]

Law & Crime

The judge overseeing Paul Manafort‘s federal court case on charges of tax evasion and bank fraud in Virginia delayed proceedings in a surprise move on Monday afternoon. According to legal experts familiar with the federal court system, this could be an indication that Manafort is about to cut a plea deal.

Per Politico’s Josh Gerstein, U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III postponed a hearing set for tomorrow on issues regarding change of venue requests and trial delays. Gerstein noted, “Jurors were to be summoned on the day following the rescheduled hearing. Jury selection set to open the next day.”

The delay may or may not have caught the prosecution and defense off guard–but was certainly a shock to those watching the events unfold from a distance. According to the publicly-accessible court docket, no party had submitted a request for such a delay and there was also no indication of an official court notice being filed as of late Monday afternoon.

Many legal observers noted that this was a strange turn of events with the trial fast approaching; several even indicated that this last-minute interruption could signal Manafort’s last-minute willingness to flip.

[NewJeffCT]

1. That would be HUGE news

if Manafort flips on trump, putin's cuck may as well pack his bags for a permanent vacation in Moscow.

[SwissTony]

6. Do you think Putin cares?

Once Trump is out, he's an unwelcome piece of trash as far as Vlad is concerned.

Then again, maybe Vlad will take him in and he'll die a couple of months later of "natural causes".

[Raster]

2. Both Cohen* and Manafort need to flip and quickly.

[triron]

3. If Mueller accepts a plea deal that tells a lot about where this is going.

To the top.

[exboyfil]

4. Could Manafort implicate Pence

That is the $64K question. If the Republicans lose the House, they may be in for an agonizing situation of holding onto both a corrupt Pres. and VP, or watching a Democrat assume the Presidency through impeachment. It may be another Ford situation.

On the other hand the GOP will not vote against Trump in sufficient numbers to get a conviction in the Senate no matter what he does.

[sarcasmo]

5. Paulie Walnuts didn't like his new prison digs and decides, let's make a deal.