Trump associates Paul Manafort and Jerome Corsi just killed their Mueller plea deals. Prosecutors guess why.


On Monday, conservative commentator Jerome Corsi said he planned to turn down a plea agreement offered by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, and Mueller's office said in a court filing that it's scrapping its plea agreement with President Trump's former campaign chairman Paul Manafort because he'd lied to investigators and committed additional federal crimes after signing his plea deal in August.
This is bad news for Mueller, who potentially loses two witnesses, but it also means possible life in prison for Manafort and an indictment for Corsi, a key ally of longtime Trump associate Roger Stone. So why are Manafort and Corsi bucking Mueller?
On MSNBC, former vice presidential chief of staff Ron Klein and former federal prosecutors Harry Litman and Mimi Rocha suggested Manafort was either acting extremely irrationally or had reason to believe Trump would pardon him, and Rocha agreed it's "definitely possible" Manafort found life in prison preferable to crossing Russian President Vladimir Putin.
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.
Later on MSNBC, former federal prosecutor Daniel Goldman noted "we don't have any evidence" Manafort was "dangled a pardon" or is afraid of Russian hit squads, suggesting to Ali Velshi that Manafort is simply "self-interested and irrational" and may have been "unwilling to admit to additional crimes, perhaps related to the campaign and Russia." Fellow former federal prosecutor Barbara McQuade guessed Corsi wasn't cooperating because Mueller wouldn't agree to "a promise of probation or some other sweetheart deal" and he thinks he can somehow still avoid jail time.
At Fox News, contributor Morgan Ortegus found the idea of Manafort banking on a Trump pardon "a little fanciful ... especially considering that there are still state crimes to be tried for which the president wouldn't have pardon authority." She said former FBI officials she spoke with think Mueller's court filing was "quite suspicious, that maybe there wasn't the case of Russian collusion that perhaps they would get out of Mueller once he started to testify."
You can watch more former federal prosecutors analyze the Corsi case at CNN.
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.
-
Israel intercepts 2nd Gaza aid flotilla in a week
Speed Read The Israeli military intercepted a flotilla of nine boats with 145 activists aboard along with medical and food aid
-
Gold tops $4K per ounce, signaling financial unease
Speed Read Investors are worried about President Donald Trump’s trade war
-
Bondi stonewalls on Epstein, Comey in Senate face-off
Speed Read Attorney General Pam Bondi denied charges of using the Justice Department in service of Trump’s personal vendettas
-
Bondi stonewalls on Epstein, Comey in Senate face-off
Speed Read Attorney General Pam Bondi denied charges of using the Justice Department in service of Trump’s personal vendettas
-
Court allows Trump’s Texas troops to head to Chicago
Speed Read Trump is ‘using our service members as pawns in his illegal effort to militarize our nation’s cities,’ said Gov. J.B. Pritzker
-
Judge bars Trump’s National Guard moves in Oregon
Speed Read In an emergency hearing, a federal judge blocked President Donald Trump from sending National Guard troops into Portland
-
Museum head ousted after Trump sword gift denial
Speed Read Todd Arrington, who led the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum, denied the Trump administration a sword from the collection as a gift for King Charles
-
Trump declares ‘armed conflict’ with drug cartels
speed read This provides a legal justification for recent lethal military strikes on three alleged drug trafficking boats
-
Supreme Court rules for Fed’s Cook in Trump feud
Speed Read Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook can remain in her role following Trump’s attempts to oust her
-
Judge rules Trump illegally targeted Gaza protesters
Speed Read The Trump administration’s push to arrest and deport international students for supporting Palestine is deemed illegal
-
Trump: US cities should be military ‘training grounds’
Speed Read In a hastily assembled summit, Trump said he wants the military to fight the ‘enemy within’ the US