Politico reported Wednesday that New York’s attorney general Eric Schneiderman is now working with special counsel Robert S. Mueller III in the probe of financial transactions involving Paul Manafort, a story independently confirmed by The Washington Post by a source familiar with the investigation.
While the involvement of Schneiderman could produce nothing and is in an early stage, the news sends an important message to President Trump: his pardon power does not extend to state crimes.
In the event Manafort or anyone else is charged under New York law, or threatened with indictment, there will be nothing Trump can do about it.
“So much for strategic use of pardon power with Manafort,” tweeted Harvard Law School professor Laurence Tribe.
According to the Politico report:
The two teams have shared evidence and talked frequently in recent weeks about a potential case, these people said. One of the people familiar with progress on the case said both Mueller’s and Schneiderman’s teams have collected evidence on financial crimes, including potential money laundering.
No decision has been made on where or whether to file charges. “Nothing is imminent,” said one of the people familiar with the case.
A spokeswoman for Schneiderman declined to comment.
The Post reported earlier this month that Manafort’s allies feared that Meuller wants to build a case against Manafort independent of the 2016 campaign “in hopes that he would provide information against others in Trump’s inner circle in exchange for lessening his legal exposure.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...ate-crimes/?tid=pm_pop&utm_term=.9991ddf69226
While the involvement of Schneiderman could produce nothing and is in an early stage, the news sends an important message to President Trump: his pardon power does not extend to state crimes.
In the event Manafort or anyone else is charged under New York law, or threatened with indictment, there will be nothing Trump can do about it.
“So much for strategic use of pardon power with Manafort,” tweeted Harvard Law School professor Laurence Tribe.
According to the Politico report:
The two teams have shared evidence and talked frequently in recent weeks about a potential case, these people said. One of the people familiar with progress on the case said both Mueller’s and Schneiderman’s teams have collected evidence on financial crimes, including potential money laundering.
No decision has been made on where or whether to file charges. “Nothing is imminent,” said one of the people familiar with the case.
A spokeswoman for Schneiderman declined to comment.
The Post reported earlier this month that Manafort’s allies feared that Meuller wants to build a case against Manafort independent of the 2016 campaign “in hopes that he would provide information against others in Trump’s inner circle in exchange for lessening his legal exposure.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...ate-crimes/?tid=pm_pop&utm_term=.9991ddf69226
