Government

Paul Manafort Is Suing The Justice Department, Which Is Hilarious When You Think About It

He claims Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein didn't have the authority to allow Robert Mueller to investigate.

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Paul Manafort (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)

Paul Manafort, former Donald Trump campaign manager and current fall guy, is suing the Justice Department over the Robert Mueller probe. His argument is a little convoluted, think more of “hook and ladder” as opposed to “Hail Mary,” but he essentially wants the entire investigation declared invalid. Given that the man is looking at spending the rest of his life in prison, OR flipping on Donald Trump, OR flipping on some shady Russians who can probably hunt him down anywhere, you had to expect Manafort and his legal team to try something.

This is that something. Manafort argues that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein didn’t have the authority to appoint Robert Mueller to investigate anything beyond “collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia.”

Rosenstein — acting in place of Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who decided to recuse himself from the Russia investigation after he was caught REPEATEDLY LYING TO THE SENATE — appointed Mueller to investigate possible collusion with Russia, as well as any other matters that “arose or may arise,” from that investigation. Manafort argues that those additional powers were beyond Rosenstein’s powers to grant and, therefore, Mueller should be removed, the entire investigation should be shut down, all charges against Manafort should be dropped, and pixies should fly out of Manafort’s ass every time he farts.

Thing is, Rosenstein’s grant was an entirely standard thing. If you are investigating somebody who robbed a Vegas casino and find out that he also murdered a man in Reno, you don’t just ignore it.

And the connection between what Manafort has been charged with and collusion with Russians to influence an American election isn’t even that tenous. Manafort is charged with a number of financial crimes, many of them involving funneling money to and from foreign agents. It is these crimes that explain why he would potentially want to help the Trump campaign collude with Russian powers, and they illustrate how he had the means and the contacts to make it happen. No, he’s not charged with “collusion,” he’s charged with a bunch of other crimes that show he had the means and opportunity to collude if SOMEBODY had asked him to.

Manafort’s argument is not impressive, but here’s the fun thing: remember he’s not suing “Hillary Clinton” or “the Fake News Media.” He’s suing Donald Trump’s Department of Justice. He’s suing Jeff Sessions. That means that Trump’s DOJ is the entity that has to defend itself from this foolishness.

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A DOJ spokesperson already told BuzzFeed, “The lawsuit is frivolous but the defendant is entitled to file whatever he wants.” And that’s great. But I really want to be there when/if Jeff Sessions has to explain to Donald Trump why Manafort’s desperate attempt to avoid flipping has no merit. I’m actively looking forward to the part where Trump screams and has a Twitter conniption at his little Confederate manservant who nonetheless can’t give him what he wants. One must find joy in this administration where one can.

It only takes one #MAGA judge to say “hells yeah, throw it all out” for this to get really messy, so I don’t want to call the game before it’s played. But it’s hard to imagine how anybody besides Paul Manafort and Donald Trump thinks this is going to end with “We tried to investigate collusion, but stopped once we started finding crimes and people started pleading guilty.”

In fact, I take this lawsuit as a mildly encouraging sign that the Mueller investigation is going to get all the way to the top. Look, the best Trump can hope for is that Mueller is allowed to finish his investigation and finds that everybody but the President (including his son and his son-in-law) tried to collude with the Russians but the President was kept out of the loop. For that to happen, people like Manafort have to be willing to take the weight. Manafort’s lawsuit is a signal that he’s not. It’s a signal that he’s looking for a way out.

Trump needs Manafort to be like Wee-Bey Brice. Instead, homes is out here looking like D’Angelo Barksdale.

Paul Manafort Is Suing The Justice Department To Get Rid Of Special Counsel Robert Mueller [BuzzFeed]

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Elie Mystal is the Executive Editor of Above the Law and the Legal Editor for More Perfect. He can be reached @ElieNYC on Twitter, or at elie@abovethelaw.com. He will resist.

Earlier:

This 31-Page Manafort Indictment Feels Like Flip Bait

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