With Manafort in Jail, Giuliani Demands an End to Mueller Probe
*By Alisha Haridasani*
The decision by a federal judge to send President Trump's former campaign manager Paul Manafort to prison on Friday ratchets up friction between the President and the Justice Department, as his personal lawyer demanded an end to Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation.
U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson sent Manafort to prison after revoking his bail because of accusations of witness tampering bought forward by prosecutors on Mueller's team.
In light of the judge's decision, Trump's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani floated the idea of wielding "presidential pardons" to clean up the aftermath of Mueller's probe into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, his strongest rebuke yet of the special counsel.
Giuliani also called on the Justice Department to ["investigate the investigators"](http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/ny-news-rudy-muller-pardons-trump-manafort-20180615-story.html) and halt Mueller's probe all together.
"It may just be a bluster but it could be a surreal stand-off moving here," Ben Schreckinger, national political correspondent at Politico told Cheddar.
"We may find out as soon as tonight or perhaps on Monday whether the president may attempt to replace either Rod Rosenstein, his deputy attorney general, or even Jeff Sessions, his attorney general."
Manafort is the first Trump official to be sent to jail in connection with the Mueller probe; his trial is set for the fall. Manafort’s jail time could give Mueller more leverage in persuading Manafort to testify against Trump.
Manafort has, so far, "been very defiant," said Schreckinger. But "we're seeing prosecutors say that once you actually put someone in jail, revoke their bail, they often become much more willing to co-operate."
Trump tried to downplay his connection to Manafort, stating on Fox News that he only worked on the campaign for around 50 days, much lower than the almost 150 days Manafort actually spent with Trump's team.
"Wow, what a tough sentence for Paul Manafort, who has represented Ronald Reagan, Bob Dole, and many other top political people and campaigns," Trump [tweeted](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1007679422865006593). "Didn't know Manafort was the head of the Mob."
Prosecutors accused Manafort of attempting to persuade two witnesses to lie to the jury about Manafort’s lobbying work for ousted Ukraine President Viktor Yanukovych.
Putting Manafort behind bars could also pressure his former colleagues to co-operate with Mueller. Trump’s personal attorney Michael Cohen is considering co-operating with the special counsel, according to [reports](https://www.cnn.com/2018/06/15/politics/michael-cohen-cooperation-federal-investigators/index.html) on Friday, and the former national security adviser Michael Flynn has been working with Mueller since December.
Manafort, who pleaded not guilty on Friday to the obstruction of justice charges, was granted a $10 million bail last year but has been under house arrest because he was unable to come up with the money. He will be tried in September for multiple charges, including money laundering, tax evasion, and conspiracy. A separate trial in Virginia will begin on July 25.
In revoking Manafort's bail Judge Jackson noted that she had admonished Manafort earlier not to contact potential witnesses. “You have [abused the trust](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-06-15/manafort-sent-to-jail-after-judge-cancels-house-arrest-jig5977k) placed in you six months ago,” Jackson said.
“The government motion will be granted, and the defendant will be detained.”
The school shooting in Texas that left 19 children and 2 teachers dead has reignited the debate over gun control.
The tragedy in Uvalde is the deadliest school shooting in nearly a decade and marks the latest in a string of mass shootings in the country. Jared Moskowitz, Broward County Commissioner and candidate for Congress in FL-23, joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss why gun control measures are stalled in the Senate, and where legislation can move forward from here.
Police and detectives are still investigating the tragic school shooting in Uvalde, Texas that killed 19 children and two adults. Cheddar News was joined by Kirk Burkhalter, professor at New York Law School and former NYPD detective to gain some insight on what investigators are looking for and what comes next.
Texas authorities say the gunman who massacred 21 people at an elementary school was in the building for over an hour before he was killed by law enforcement officers.
Join Cheddar News as we break down the top headlines for Thursday, May 26 including updates on the Texas school shooting, President Joe Biden's executive order on police reform, and a recount in the Pennsylvania GOP Senate primary.
Representative Morgan Griffith of Virginia rebuked words from the FDA commissioner that could have been construed as blaming parents for stockpiling baby formula exacerbating the shortage.
Cheddar News reporter Megan Pratz brings the latest from the scene of yesterday's horrific school shooting at a Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. Now the second-deadliest school shooting in U.S. history with 19 children and two adults killed, Pratz goes into comments by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, details about the deceased shooter, and reactions from members of the community.
The Robb Elementary School mass shooting killing 19 children and two adults in Uvalde, Texas pm Tuesday was the deadliest school shooting since the 2012 Sandy Hook massacre in Newtown, Connecticut, and came just 10 days after the grocery store shooting in Buffalo, New York. Nelson Vergara, the founder and CEO of 360 Protective Solutions, joined Cheddar’s Opening Bell to discuss. "Right now what law enforcement is concentrating on is trying to trace his steps as to what motivated the gunman to act the way he did. What it boils down to just trying to figure out what led to his motivation to do such a horrific act.”
An recently conducted AP-NORC poll found that majorities of the Black and Hispanic populations in the U.S. still find themselves either somewhat worried or extremely worried over the pandemic, while more than half of white Americans responded with either being not too worried or not worried at all. Dr. Chris Pernell, the chief strategic integration and health equity officer at University Hospital, joined Cheddar News to talk about how perceptions of COVID-19 differ between groups of Americans. "We’re still seeing people get infected, and because of the toll of the disproportionate impact, we have concerns among the Black and brown community about whether or not they have an increased risk of exposure because of where they work, because of the use of public transportation, because they live in homes that they may not be able to safely quarantine and or isolate in, and because they have at baseline chronic health conditions that may make coronavirus more severe in those persons," she said.
Judith Enck, a former regional administrator for the EPA and the president of Beyond Plastics, joined Cheddar News to talk about the role of plastics in the climate crisis and California's investigation of ExxonMobil and other oil companies for misleading the public on the ability to recycle plastics. "The reason why petrochemical companies like Exxon have gotten away with selling more and more plastic is that they've lied to the public and told us don't worry about all those negative upstream impacts and downstream impacts of plastics. Just be sure to recycle it. Well, guess what? Plastics largely are not recycled," Enck said.
