Newenglanddeac
Well-known member
- Joined
- May 1, 2011
- Messages
- 13,135
- Reaction score
- 390
Other messages from 2018 also suggest little respect for the gag order, with Manafort boasting of passing information to journalists, particularly those hostile to Mueller.
Story Continued Below
“I made Sara Carter a center point in my leaks motion reply last night,” Manafort wrote to Hannity, referencing a conservative reporter who appears regularly on his show. “My person has briefed her up,” Manafort added.
“She told me,” Hannity replied.
In the messages, Manafort exhibits or projects a remarkable lack of insight into how receptive the courts were likely to be to his legal maneuvers. Manafort appears convinced that U.S. District Court Judge T.S. Ellis is going to upend the tax-focused case Mueller’s team filed in Virginia. Manafort seemed to expect that the judge would rule that Mueller prosecutors pursued him on those charges without proper approval from the Justice Department.
“Ellis understands this point clearly,” Manafort wrote to Hannity on May 5, 2018. “He rules the way he spoke and this is part of his findings.”
“Ellis understands [Andrew Weissmann] took dismissed matters and created crimes that did not existed using smears and prejudicial illegal leaks to create a narrative upon which to indict,” Manafort added a couple of days later. "Coupled with illegal delegation by [Rod Rosenstein] we get to good end.”
The following month, Ellis refused all of Manafort’s attacks on the indictment. The judge also declined to address the leak complaints until after Manafort went on trial.
https://www.politico.com/story/2019/06/21/paul-manafort-hannity-mueller-report-1376701