(We occasionally will present and contrast view points that differ in insight. From time to time we will feature them here. Please read the 2 articles below)
-Source-The Foundry-
A guilty verdict in Northern Virginia didn’t implicate President Donald Trump, while a guilty plea in Manhattan did implicate the president, but it could be difficult to prove he did anything wrong, legal experts said.
Still, they agree the two events in court this week could mean trouble for the president, although they differ on how much trouble.
A jury in Alexandria, Virginia, found Trump’s former campaign chairman Paul Manafort guilty on eight counts of tax and bank fraud.
The more direct problem for Trump, however, is that a former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, implicated him in what prosecutors called a campaign finance violation.
Here’s a look at what could be next.
1. What Does This Mean for the Mueller Probe?
Both cases could mean a lot for special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation, officially centered on Russian interference with the 2016 presidential election and any involvement by the Trump campaign.
Mueller secured his first jury verdict with Manafort’s conviction on eight counts, even if the case was outside the original parameters of his investigation. The jury could not reach a decision on 10 other counts, also unrelated to Russia, prompting the judge to declare a mistrial on those charges.
Thus far, the special counsel has brought indictments against more than two dozen Russian operatives and secured guilty pleas on charges mostly unrelated to Russian interference from former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn, Manafort associate Rick Gates, and low-level Trump campaign adviser George Papadopoulos.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York brought charges against Cohen, not Mueller’s team.
However, Cohen lawyer Lanny Davis—longtime counsel to Bill and Hillary Clinton—said Tuesday that his client has information that Mueller’s investigators would be interested in. Read More