Mueller asks for immunity for five mystery witnesses against Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort
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With the trial of Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort starting soon, Special Counsel Robert Mueller has filed a new motion asking that five witnesses be allowed to testify under a promise of immunity from prosecution. As reported by NBC, Mueller has started tMueller asks for immunity for five mystery witnesses against Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort
With the trial of Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort starting soon, Special Counsel Robert Mueller has filed a new motion asking that five witnesses be allowed to testify under a promise of immunity from prosecution. As reported by NBC, Mueller has started that these witnesses, if not provided with immunity would “either refuse to take the witness stand or refuse to answer questions by citing their Fifth Amendment right against being forced to incriminate themselves.” Previous filings from Mueller have been a treasure trove for those trying to get a peek into the state of the Trump–Russia investigation. Indictments against Manafort, Rick Gates, Michael Flynn, George Papadopoulos, and a network of Russian operatives have revealed only a small portion of the information that the special counsel investigation has gathered. But it’s given a sense of the volume of evidence, that being huge, and the level of detail, extremely, that Mueller is building to defend his charges. However, this time Mueller has asked that almost everything about this filing be sealed to protect the identities of those involved. According to the document, these witnesses “are third parties who have not been charged in this matter, and who have not been identified publicly with the case." So it seems unlikely that scanning a list of names associated with the case is going to turn up a ready answer. It seems near certain that these are US citizens. They could be connected with either changes against Manafort concerning bank fraud and money laundering—in which case they might be people connected to the small Chicago-based bank that gave Manafort loans for which he didn’t qualify. Or they might be connected with Manafort’s illegal lobbying, which could suggest the witnesses were connected with the DC lobbying firm started by Manafort and Trump adviser Roger Stone. The specific form of immunity Mueller has requested for these witnesses is Derivative Use Immunity, which would protect the witnesses from the use of the testimony in any criminal proceeding, except for a charge of perjury. The special counsel’s office has asked that all information, including the name of witnesses, remain sealed until and unless they are called on to testify. Read more