But he wasn’t sentenced the way we sentence white collar criminals. The sentence was no way near the sentencing guidelines.
It sends a message to all of the other people in the swamp that they will be pardoned so long as they don’t turn on him.
The story has been updated. FTA:
Fingers crossed about the accuracy of the rest of it.
My personal sources indicate that the Mueller report will be submitted within the next 2-3 years.
That’s a great idea! I thought I was being smart by stockpiling pizza and ice cream for the occasion…
Yep, I think it’s safe to conclude that Bill Barr came in with the expectation that it was time to call the investigation, and the “next week” semi-announcement was based on that.
And then Rosenstein showed him the evidence.
And then Rosenstein said this.
And now the Mueller report is coming whenever Mueller says that it is coming.
It’s complicated. You can’t be forced to incriminate yourself, but if you’ve already accepted a pardon (or commutation of your sentence) for some offense then you can’t face any further legal punishment and can be forced to testify since you’re no longer in jeopardy. However, if Manafort’s testimony might incriminate him for other offenses not covered by the hypothetical pardon, or if he could be facing state charges for his conduct, it’s likely he would retain some Fifth Amendment protection against being forced to testify regarding at least some subjects.
The last time I set aside special food and drink for celebrating an occasion was election night 2016. Never again!
It’s not too late! The winery itself is out of stock, but you can still order either their Emily’s Cuvée or August Recher through other retailers such as Wine.com. They are both very nice wines. And by a wonderful coincidence, the owner of the winery is named Robert Mueller. 
LOL, Happy Lendervedder, you always make me giggle. 
I saw a clip of Rosenstein speaking at his and Trump’s alma mater the other night. He looked relaxed, comfortable and happy as he took several not-so-veiled swipes at Trump, making the point that you can always judge the character of a person by the company they keep.
Few have as much at stake in this investigation as Rosenstein. His appointment of Mueller was his path to redemption among his DOJ/FBI peers after having been used in an abominable way by Trump as the “reason” for firing Comey. He swore to see this investigation through to the end, and I think he feels he has successfully accomplished his goal. If Rosenstein is happy, this girl is happy, too.
Maybe this place needs to be reconstituted?
Since something related to airplanes has been mentioned, and this is the SDMB, I must pay heed to the invocation:
“I just wanted to tell you good luck, Mr Mueller, we’re all counting on you.”
Part of my outrage has nothing to do with this case at all, but rather the heightened awareness that Trump is going to impact the federal judiciary for years to come. Whether Ellis is relevant or not, I don’t know, but he’s still a reminder in my mind.
My outrage is the hypocrisy of the GOP and that it’s acceptable to them to elect a moron (possibly the least of his failings, he can’t control that) for President.
Erik Prince didn’t lie to Congress about his role in the Trump administration. He’s claiming that the transcript is lying about what he said.
The court reporter who took all of that down was PAID BY HILLARY! Or maybe it WAS Hillary. <shrug> In any case, it’s not Erik’s fault. He wasn’t even in the room when it happened.
Well, she needed work after Murphy Brown refused to hire her.
I’d forgotten that line in Airplane.
Well, I'm not nearly as smart as Director Robert Mueller, but if I were running this investigation, I know what I'd do. So just for fun:
I'd wrap up those "kids" of Trump's with arrest warrants on state charges first, say money laundering/tax fraud-type stuff. Get some pressure going on the traitorous orange fucker that's unquestionably beyond the reach of his pardon abuse. Just get the "kids" the hell out of the White House and dealing with their own issues.
Presumably even if they were granted bail, the fact of pending criminal charges should be sufficient to yank security clearances -- even for Republicans. If not, it's a Very Bad Look for 2020 reelection messaging. I'd hold back federal charges for the "kids" until I had the traitorous orange fucker safely out of the way. Maybe he'd agree to resign -- although I doubt it. But it wouldn't matter. At least the "kids" would be neutralized.
Then I'd grab up many of the other relevant American players with indictments and arrest them at the same time. I'd do them together in a big splash so that if Trump started abusing his pardon power, it would become immediately evident that Congress must act. (Even Republican senators and Bill Barr have said pardon abuse would go too far.) The reason for my obsession with secrecy would become immediately apparent.
I'd hold back some charges in case I needed to apply them after a (predictable) Trump backlash: E.g., Trump pardons Roger Stone for the obstruction/false statements/witness tampering charges, then I could wait to level conspiracy charges until Trump had suffered the consequences and was gone. I notice Mr. Stone is not a the subject of such charges (yet), nor is Manafort (yet), so maybe Director Mueller and I are thinking along the same lines.
I'd continue to issue speaking indictments to accompany my arrests, just as Mueller has done up to this point. If the indictments speak as well as they have up to now, then public issuance of Mueller's report is moot. It won't matter what Bill Barr chooses to do. Congress can have that fight.
I'd disperse prosecution of the indictments far and wide, to every US Attorney's Office that could get onboard and let those simultaneous prosecutions play out on the national stage with all the attendant publicity.
Then I'd tip my hat to the American Congress and public, let them figure out what to do with this mountain of factual evidence with which I have left them, hope like hell they could get it right and fade gently back into my former life (to the extent that would be possible).
That's what I'd do, anyway. Curious how others think it should be handled.I doubt that anyone could improve on this plan.
Yes, getting Trump’s children and their spouses out of the White House, and keeping them busy (or locked up), could save Americans from potential machinations aimed at keeping Trump in place. These faux-royals have been sashaying around making ‘deals’ for too long. Time for the Corruption Theater curtain to come down.
I shall recuse myself from offering a roadmap on the grounds of lack of expertise in the field. It would be like asking me how I would build a rocket to the Moon. I just try and guess the rocket’s launch date based on observations such as rocket boosters firing up, or the countdown person clearing their throat.
Are we sure there are going to be state charges against the “Kids” ? Or that this will happen - I’d grab up many of the other relevant American players with indictments and arrest them at the same time.
I keep hearing it, for over a year now, and it hasn’t happened yet. I hope it does.
Thanks, and we are completely agreed re the faux-royals. I’m pretty sure Mueller will improve on the plan, but I sure hope it goes something like how I outlined.
I should take a page out of your humility playbook… but I’m reckless and stupid like that. Plus probably have too much time on my hands.
Yeah, pretty sure. (NY Times)
As someone who has had my nose against the glass for every move of Mueller’s investigation, I’m comfortable to say that yes, there are many other relevant players with indictments and arrests pending. However, due the Trump’s potential abuse of pardon power and his tiny sticky fingers on the nuclear codes, this is a brand new type of prosecution. It is huge and complicated, with many different threads to follow.
I understand people’s charm with using John Oliver’s term of “stupid Watergate,” but to me, it is a huge disservice to our country to do so. It egregiously understates the immensity of what has occurred. The leader of an adverse foreign power chose our president. Mueller must tread carefully in the approach he takes. No one has ever had to do this before. I understand your frustration at how long it has taken, but some things just have to take their own time. I think this is such a one. But he’ll get there, I am sure of it. Nothing has ever been more important.