StrangeSox

Is this settled and adjudicated law?

Yes, I think that's the core of the "witness tampering" aspect southpaw mentioned there. Ford pardoned Nixon for any crime he committed or may have taken part in during his Presidency. Trump could issue pardons faster than new charges or orders of contempt could be drawn up, and I see no reason he couldn't issue a blanket pardon for Manafort extending into the future if the legal logic of Nixon's pardon is sound. e: if he really wanted to, he could always pardon him, bring him on AF1, and fly him to a country without an extradition treaty. yeah, sure, it's completely absurd, but Trump's already pardoned two other political hack idiots, plus the guys who sparked off the whole Malhuer occupation, so

So in a completely surprising turn of events, Trump has been asking his lawyers about pardoning manafort lately, and they've convinced him to wait until after Mueller is done.

he's made it clear many times over the past few weeks that the only thing Trump values is loyalty to Trump

Grassley and Graham are both signaling that they're open to Trump firing sessions after the midterms

He's within a few points of Cruz in the last few polls, but I'm not getting my hopes up.

Trump is bringing more white nationalist talking points into the forefront, thanks again to Fox News. This time it's about the long-running and long-debunked claims of "white genocide" in South Africa. Expect to see him going back to the racism well more often if the pressure keeps building. He also had one hell of an interview on Fox this morning. we live in the dumbest and worst timeline

One of the jurors was full-blown MAGA "witch hunt" who went in wanting to find Manafort innocent...but ended up voting guilty on all 18 counts. That's how much of a blatant criminal Manafort is. And if he hadn't gotten himself into the Trump campaign and then helped Trump win, none of this would ever have been prosecuted.

Ryan Zinke is having his high school football buddy review all climate science studies. You might think "well, maybe he actually has a relevant background?" Nope. He's spent his career working in credit unions.

at the same time that Trump is trying to get rid of the Clean Power Plan, the Artic is melting and breaking up more than ever:

It's not just Georgia where the GOP is shutting down polling places in minority areas their stated reasons are pretty transparently bullshit, real reason is 100% voter suppression

Sure, possibly, maybe probably. Could be why he plead to all of these crimes without a cooperation agreement. His lawyer is also out there today explicitly calling Trump a criminal while disavowing a potential pardon, and he's also saying Cohen has information that would implicate Trump criminally re: Russia and hacking. Still need to see those receipted, though. e: well I guess the charging documents for Cohen actually do say they have evidence so there's some receipts already.

You probably need more than just Cohen's word to prove that Trump directed Cohen to commit felonies for him, but Trump's other lawyer Guilinia kinda already admitted it on TV a little while back. Actual hard evidence, recordings, emails, payments signed by Trump etc. would be better obviously. But this isn't a witch hunt. Witch hunts don't result in dozens of guilty pleas and verdicts for obvious crimes by multiple people. There was a ton of wrong-doing and law-breaking going on in and around the Trump campaign and the Trump organization.

Manafort has another federal trial coming up next month that I think relates more to the foreign lobbying and money-laundering, plus VA is considering their own state level charges.

just imagine how much white collar crime is out there completely unprosecuted while we are still the most incarcerated country on the planet. it's just entirely directed at the poor and particularly poor minorities. Also this morning:

Lmao I'm sure Trump's been doing crimes for decades so it'll be wild if Dems actually get and use subpoena power

Cohen's lawyer

This guy was Trump's second Congressional supporter! The first is also under criminal indictment.

Why have deductibles at all? I think most countries allow private supplemental plans for concierge/luxury service, but almost any procedure or treatment anyone would ever need is covered. Maybe your total bill for child birth is $50 including a few weeks in NICU. Here, it could be financially devastating even with insurance.

Of course. Democrats need to be ready to play hardball if and when they ever take back some power because conservatives are playing for keeps and are winning.

Cohen plea directly implicates too

There are more than 50 GOP senators, he will be confirmed.