MANAFORT

I don't know what is going on.  First, there is this Judge T. S. Ellis who was hostile to the prosecution from the beginning. I was surprised but probably shouldn't have been when he gave Manafort a "soft-ball" sentence of quilty (47 mo.) when it was recommended to be 19-24 yrs.  He said that Manafort lived an otherwise exemplary life though he was facing sentencing in another trial about a week later.  In hindsight, I wonder why he didn't give Manafort a sentence of time served?  Maybe there is something in the law or politics that prevented him from doing this.

Judge Amy Berman Jackson in the second trial could give Manafort a verdict of up to 10 yrs.  She really lit into Manafort saying, essentially, what a terrible person he was.  So I figured "Here we go - the max.", but she settled on another "softball sentence" of 43 mo. two years which would be concurrent with the first trial.

In addition, Manafort does get credit for time served (9 mo.).

Suppose you could have an opulent life for 10 yrs in your prime but then had to go to jail for maybe 6 yrs in your old age.  Would it be worth it?   I dunno, maybe.

There is the side issue of Manafort's lawyer claiming that two trials concluded there was No Collusion when Judge Jackson said collusion was not an issue in the trial.  The lawyer's lies have been referred to the bar.

The thought occurs to me that, the way things are going, we should not expect too much from Special Investigator Mueller.  Like judge Ellis (appointed by Pres. Reagan), the highly regarded Mueller is another Republican. though Jackson was appointed by Pres Obama.