There is so much to digest every single day, but as Hurricane Florence (Cat 2) bears on the coast line Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller bears down on the indicted/co-indicted. Paul Manafort trial part 2 is scheduled for jury selection next week, but even now he is considering a plea deal.
After all Manafort has been through (remember the 8 guilty verdicts), what could ever make him cop a plea at this late stage of the game?
Could it be the forfeiture of $46M? Yep, that’s a big barrel that might cause some disturbance in the force.
But now, he already faces losing around $16 million and stands to lose $30 million more. He’s been effectively broke since 2016 anyway. And it’s not clear that a presidential pardon prevents that from happening.
So on top of calculating whether he trusts Trump enough to rely on that pardon, Manafort (and the lawyers he likely still has to pay) also have to be wondering how many houses his freedom is worth.
All credit should flow to the fine folks over at emptywheel