DID TRUMP JUST ADD ONE MORE LIE TO HIS OVER 9,000 LIES?

…Judge T.S. Ellis surprised everyone with his short sentence for Paul Manafort

Manafort’s statement before his sentencing was a request for a presidential pardon.

As part of an ongoing effort to convince the public that his campaign did not collude with Russia, President Trump dramatically misrepresented comments made by the judge (he told a lie), who presided over the sentencing of his former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort.

Manafort was sentenced to nearly four years in prison for cheating on his taxes and bank fraud.  (Actually, with time already served, Manafort was only sentenced to just over 3 years in prison.) Because of the heinous things that Manafort did in working with some very undesirable characters, his sentencing recommendations were for 17 to 22 years.  (This judge is known for similar short sentences for white collar crimes.)

The case was prosecuted by special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s office, but it was unrelated to Mueller’s core mission of investigating Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.  However, Manafort will be sentenced again this week in the Southern District of New York (SNDY), and he is expected to receive a total sentence of 10 more years for tax evasion, etc., probably not consecutive years with the latest sentence to prison.

It is obvious that how Manafort acted in court, and what he said was a signal to Trump in asking for a presidential pardon.  But even if he were to receive a federal pardon from Trump, it would not affect what sentence he is given this week by the SDNY.

During the proceedings in a courtroom in Alexandria, US District Court Judge T.S. Ellis III had noted the distinction, saying that Manafort was “not before this court for anything having to do with collusion with the Russian government to influence this election.”  Trump took this comment by the judge and lied that the judge was saying there was no collusion by Trump’s campaign with Russia, which is a bare-faced lie.  It will be the Mueller investigation report that may be what establishes that Trump’s campaign colluded with Russia, or that Trump has committed a number of obstruction-of-justice violations while in office.

It has been described by a number of those in the know, that this presidency will eventually become known as “the most corrupt presidency ever!”

In a tweet and later when talking to reporters, Trump lied again by suggesting that Ellis’s comments had cleared his campaign of wrongdoing.  That is totally wrong.

Trump actually said:  “Both [Manafort’s] lawyer, a very respected man, and a highly respected judge, the judge said there was no collusion with Russia.” Trump told this to reporters as he was leaving the White House in route to Alabama to view the tornado damage.  As usual, it was all B.S..

Trump tried to make this believable by saying that he was “very honored” by the judge’s words, adding: “It’s a collusion hoax. It’s a collusion witch hoax. I don’t collude with Russia.”

A Trump tweet sent earlier Friday morning sought to make the same point.

This is all just one more lie added to his over 9000 lies to date.

Copyright G. Ater 2019