Trump's Personal Lawyer And Campaign Manager Both Going To Prison

[Zucas]

Hiku said:

That Cohen said that Trump instructed him and co-conspired with him to commit federal crimes is huge.
If Trump had not won the election, he would likely have been indicted. (You can't indict a sitting president.)

I'm also interested in the second trial for Manafort coming up. He's 69 years old, and will likely spend the rest of his life in prison just on the 8 convictions he got from the first trial. If he has something incriminating on Trump, now would be the time to make a deal with the special council. 
If he doesn't and Trump doesn't pardon him, then at least one crook is off the streets.

NightlyPoe said: 
Manafort doesn't amount to much. His run at the top of the Trump campaign for like five minutes before getting fired because Trump's inner circle didn't trust him. And his convictions don't have anything to do with Trump.

Cohen, on the other hand, by implicating Trump in the pay off, is a real thing and the first time that Trump is facing any real exposure.

There will be a second trial for Manafort in a few weeks, and that one is where the more serious charges come in.
It will be very interesting to see how that plays out, because if he has something incriminating on Trump to hand over to the special council, this is the time he would do it.
Manafort was present during the infamous Trump tower meeting where they went to get dirt on Hillary Clinton from a Russian official, so he may have something in regards to that.

If Trump all of a sudden pardons Manafort before the second trial is over, then we can be 100% sure that he has something valuable to offer the special council in a plea deal.

Xxain said: 
Gawd damn. What does mean for trump himself?

Because he is the president, he is exempt from being indicted for crimes. But the house can move to impeach him on these grounds. However, the Republicans control the house and will undoubtedly not do it. But if enough people vote democrat in the midterms this year, he could very well be impeached for this and stand trial.

AS to the part about a sitting president cant be indicted, that is not entirely true. Actually Clinton tried to make this defense in the Paula Jones case and the Supreme Court explicitly stated that not even the President is above the law and could still be dragged into court. Instead, what is going on here, is the Justice Department has a policy that they will not indict a sitting president as to not have the President distracted from his duties to defend himself in court.

But this policy has never been tested, tbh. It brings about an interesting legal question, and a constitutional crisis likened to that in the Nixon administration. However, it is important to note this is a prosecutorial discretion moment, not a constitutional one. As far as the Constitution and the Supreme Court is concerned, a US president is not above the law and can be indicted by a federal prosecutor and brought before a court.