Penelope
Diamond Member
- Jul 15, 2014
- 60,265
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Beyond possible illegality, the defense agreement is ethically dubious and likely invalid, according to Mimi Rocah, a former federal prosecutor for the Southern District of New York who put scores of Cosa Nostra mobsters behind bars in the early 2000s.
“I saw this conduct in Mafia cases,” Rocah tweeted. “At a minimum, it’s unethical and not normal.”
Joint defense agreements can only exist between people who have common legal interests and are subjects of the same criminal investigation — like drug cartels and mob families.
Therefore, experts said the agreement between Trump and Manafort ceased to be valid once Manafort agreed to cooperate with the special counsel’s office, as his legal interest were by then no longer aligned with Trump, who is a subject of Mueller’s investigation. The attorney-client privilege protections that were ensured by the agreement would thereby also have been annulled and Mueller could now try to demand testimony about the discussions.
“By reporting to Trump what Mueller was asking about, Manafort was hurting Mueller, not helping him, even though he agreed to assist Mueller under the agreement,” Mariotti said. “By any standard, what Manafort and his attorney did was deceptive and highly improper.”
President Trump's joint defense agreement with Paul Manafort could amount to obstruction, experts say - NY Daily News
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Trump needs to be impeached and Manafort and Trumps attorneys disbarred. Also Corsi's attorney, both Manafort and Corsi went undercover in Mueller's domain and reported back to Trump. Talk about obstruction of justice.
One does not need to be an attorney to see this set up as underhanded and illegal.
Trump needs to be impeached and indicted. Also he is stating he has not made a decision whether to pardon Manafort or not is telling him a pardon is coming if he sticks to his lies.
“I saw this conduct in Mafia cases,” Rocah tweeted. “At a minimum, it’s unethical and not normal.”
Joint defense agreements can only exist between people who have common legal interests and are subjects of the same criminal investigation — like drug cartels and mob families.
Therefore, experts said the agreement between Trump and Manafort ceased to be valid once Manafort agreed to cooperate with the special counsel’s office, as his legal interest were by then no longer aligned with Trump, who is a subject of Mueller’s investigation. The attorney-client privilege protections that were ensured by the agreement would thereby also have been annulled and Mueller could now try to demand testimony about the discussions.
“By reporting to Trump what Mueller was asking about, Manafort was hurting Mueller, not helping him, even though he agreed to assist Mueller under the agreement,” Mariotti said. “By any standard, what Manafort and his attorney did was deceptive and highly improper.”
President Trump's joint defense agreement with Paul Manafort could amount to obstruction, experts say - NY Daily News
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Trump needs to be impeached and Manafort and Trumps attorneys disbarred. Also Corsi's attorney, both Manafort and Corsi went undercover in Mueller's domain and reported back to Trump. Talk about obstruction of justice.
One does not need to be an attorney to see this set up as underhanded and illegal.
Trump needs to be impeached and indicted. Also he is stating he has not made a decision whether to pardon Manafort or not is telling him a pardon is coming if he sticks to his lies.