CNN's Chris Cuomo speculates that Mueller might have cleverly trapped Manafort and Trump
"The Cuomo Prime Time team burned a lot of calories to go through what we're going to do for you right now," CNN's Chris Cuomo said Tuesday night, breaking out his whiteboard to make sense of the flurry of news regarding Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation. He connected Russian intelligence's hacking of Democratic emails to Julian Assange, then to Jerome Corsi and Roger Stone. But things got more interesting when Cuomo got to Paul Manafort, President Trump's second campaign chairman.
Manafort is apparently the closest link between Assange and the Trump campaign. Trump's lawyers also acknowledged Tuesday that Manafort's lawyers were sharing information with them about Mueller's investigation after Manafort entered into a plea deal with Mueller, a deal Mueller publicly scrapped Monday, saying Manafort had continued lying to investigators.
"Here's why it's interesting," Cuomo said. "The president has now submitted his answers to Mueller. What if the answers to the questions that the president submitted with the help of Rudy Giuliani and his legal team echo a common understanding with Paul Manafort — a similar story, so to speak — that Mueller knows to be untrue?"
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Marcy Wheeler, a national security reporter, is on the same page. If Mueller's team had "no doubt that Manafort was lying to them," she wrote at her Emptywheel blog Monday, "that means they didn't really need his testimony, at all ... They could keep giving Manafort the impression that he was pulling a fast one over the prosecutors, all while reporting misleading information to Trump that he could use to fill out his open-book test. Which increases the likelihood that Trump just submitted sworn answers to those questions full of lies."
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
'The House under GOP rule has become a hostile workplace'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Harold Maass, The Week US Published
-
The Shohei Ohtani gambling scandal is about more than bad bets
In The Spotlight The firestorm surrounding one of baseball's biggest stars threatens to upend a generational legacy and professional sports at large
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Feds raid Diddy homes in alleged sex trafficking case
Speed Read Homeland Security raided the properties of hip hop mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Trump gets $289M break, first criminal trial date
Speed Read The former president's fraud bond has been reduced to $175 million from $464 million
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
US-Israel rift widens after UN cease-fire resolution
Speed Read The U.S. declined to veto a U.N. resolution calling for a two-week "immediate cease-fire" in Gaza
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
New Jersey first lady exits race to replace Menendez
Speed Read Tammy Murphy dropping out paves the way for Rep. Andy Kim to become the state's next senator
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Russia blames Ukraine for deadly ISIS Moscow attack
Speed Read Putin has ignored the Islamic State's claim of responsibility for the concert hall shooting
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Trump-RNC pact puts Trump legal bills ahead of GOP
Speed Read The former president has struck a deal with the Republican National Committee to put donations toward his legal bills
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Vietnam president resigns amid scandal
Speed Read Vietnam loses its second president in two years as Vo Van Thuong steps down
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Texas migrant law in limbo after Supreme Court OK
Speed Read The law has been blocked again, mere hours after the Supreme Court allowed the state to arrest migrants
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Cubans rally for 'power and food' in rare protests
Speed Read The protests came after 18-hour rolling blackouts and food supply shortages
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published