Things are not looking good for Donald Trump over the past week, as two of his former right-hand men — former lawyer Michael Cohen and ex-campaign manager Paul Manafort — look more and more like they’re going to seal the president’s fate.
Reporter Aruna Viswanatha just broke a bombshell story in the Wall Street Journal tonight, signaling that Manafort was trying to cut a plea deal with Special Counsel Robert Mueller in the DC case. This marks the first time that Manafort may be looking to make a deal to relieve him of some of his (many) charges.
Breaking: Paul Manafort began negotiations to *cut a deal with Mueller* for charges in the DC case – first report of Manafort looking to plea.
New from @aviswanatha who joins us at the top of 6pm…
— Ari Melber (@AriMelber) August 27, 2018
Viswanatha reported that Manafort’s defense team had tried to speak with prosecutors about the second set of charges the former Trump campaign manager was facing before he was convicted last week. However, no deal was reached. The negotiations were pertaining to Manafort’s second trial, which will begin Sept. 17 in Washington.
These plea discussions happened during the four days the Virginia jury was deciding on Manafort’s tax and bank fraud charges, which ended with Manafort being “convicted on eight counts and deadlocked on 10 others.” However, due to concerns raised by Mueller, the terms of a plea deal were not decided on.
The fact that Manafort is talking about a plea deal signals that he’s being broken down and softening under the pressure of Mueller’s investigation. This call for a plea deal comes after Manafort aggressively fought Mueller’s investigation for the last 15 months — in stark contrast to Cohen, who cooperated with Mueller much more easily.
You can watch Viswanatha talk about Manafort’s plea discussion with Mueller below:
One thing is for sure: Trump is getting very, VERY nervous right now.
Featured image via screen capture
