Keeping in mind that IANAL, I have read the Lawfare article (opinion piece?) in its entirety. Mr. Rosenzweig seems to base his entire argument on the contention that Robert Mueller has failed to prove actual jury tampering by Mr. Manafort. Thus, the charge is "thin" as it lacks sufficient substantiating evidence. (This is a bit facetious, but I suppose Rosenzweig thinks Robert Mueller should meet the "Nixon Standard" of proof - where the defendant [Nixon] was caught on tape suborning perjury by instructing his aides on how to lie to the Grand Jury ... and get away with it!) After dismissing Mueller's indictment as thin, Rosenzweig proceeds to offer a theory as to why he thinks the Mueller team is pressing this "thin" charge.
Isn't it standard practice in criminal cases where you are the defendant that the judge warns and instructs you not to contact - or even attempt to contact - potential witnesses? Aren't lawyers representing the defendant duty bound to make sure their client understands this prohibition? Isn't the mere act of "contacting" potential witnesses a violation of the conditions of bail? Also, the fact that Manafort used some form of encrypted messaging to attempt at least one of these contacts could be construed as "mens re" - a consciousness of guilt - as he was attempting to hide the fact that he was attempting to contact witnesses.
Despite the fact that Manafort appears not to have been successful in achieving whatever he was trying to achieve, isn't the fact that he was caught trying to contact these witnesses enough? (I suppose we'll know the answer to my rhetorical question by this time next week ...)
Last edited by Former DJ; 06-09-2018 at 04:45 AM.
Reason: Attempted to answer my own "rhetorical" question.
A pair of memos made public in a court filing detail Manafort's role in an effort to draw attention away from the prosecution and imprisonment of Yanukovych's political rival Yulia Tymoshenko.
One memo, authored by Manafort and dated April 22, 2013, discusses an effort "to heavily engage with the [U.S. Government] and US Congress, using a strategy I built called 'Engage Ukraine' which focused the dialogue on positive key issues, and away from [Tymoshenko]."
It also details how Manafort "organized and leveraged the visits of" two members of the Hapsburg group — a group of former European leaders allegedly paid to lobby on behalf of Ukraine — "to make critical in-roads in how policymakers view Ukraine" in the United States.
Manafort also boasted in the memo about how he arranged to place op-eds in publications, including The Hill, and sought to pitch "our narrative and messaging to key reporters and editors at the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, and New York Times."
A federal judge revoked Paul Manafort’s bail and sent him to jail on Friday to await trial, citing new charges that Mr. Manafort had tried to influence the testimony of two of the government’s witnesses after he had been granted bail.
A: It's not a sentence. Not yet, at least. You stupid bastard.
B: Only the head of the mob goes to prison? Tell that to the ****ing refugee children you put in cages, you ****ing piece of scum
Greg Andres, an attorney on Mueller’s probe, said Manafort has engaged in the art of “foldering.” As Andres noted, foldering involves giving multiple people access to a single email account so they each can read emails created as drafts. (A message is never transmitted—which means it cannot be intercepted—and usually a message is destroyed after being read.) Foldering is a way to “hide the fact that you’re sharing information,” Andres explained.
just normal stuff innocent people do when they're not breaking the law
well, the republican party is basically the mob. and while manafort was not at the head, he was clearly powerful in it. so ya, pretty much agree with trump.
A: It's not a sentence. Not yet, at least. You stupid bastard.
B: Only the head of the mob goes to prison? Tell that to the ****ing refugee children you put in cages, you ****ing piece of scum
Why are you so easily manipulated?
The immigration laws were written and passed by Democrats. Did you know Obama had immigrant children in cages? The pics you saw were probably from years ago.