Is "conspiracy against the United States" indicative of more than just 2012-13 money laundering issue?
So it turned out that Manafort's financial issues are a LOT more than just the 2012-2013 money laundering. And a lot more money went through his laundry machine too.
Still, it is interesting that the 12 counts brought against Manafort were not related to anything he did during the Trump election period.
Which brings up the question why Mueller would indict him now, and for these charges.
I think Mueller wanted to test if Manafort would cooperate or not.
Manafort entered a "not guilty" plea today, which suggests he is NOT willing to cooperate.
Which is very interesting by itself, since it suggests that Manafort wants to drag this thing out into trial, to maybe to buy some more time (slow down the investigation).
I'm sure that Mueller has more stuff on him and many other Trump campaign officials, and will tighten the screws in the months to come.
In my opinion, the REAL interesting thing today was that Papadopoulos guilty plea.
For one, it directly links the Trump campaign to the Russians talking about "dirt" on Hillary.
But secondly, it is interesting that the guilty plea was signed already in July, and Mueller decided to let it come out only today. To coincide with the Manafort indictment.
What do you guys make of that timing ?
[edit] I stand corrected about the signing of the guilty plea by Papadopoulos. It was not July, but early October when Papadopoulos signed the guilty plea :
This article :
http://www.cnn.com/2017/10/30/politics/robert-mueller-most-powerful-man-in-washington/index.htmlstates :
Papadopoulos was arrested on July 27 at Dulles International Airport. Mueller noted that Papadopoulos then met with the government "on numerous occasions." He was arraigned and pleaded guilty in federal court October 5, a fact only unsealed Monday.
Still, that is another indication that Mueller really knows how to keep things secret and release them only when he deems them needed. And that was today. The timing (coincide with the Manafort indictment) is still interesting.