Opposing view: Manafort case had nothing to do with Russia

The jury has reached its verdict in the trial of Paul Manafort, finding him guilty of eight counts of tax evasion and bank fraud, with the judge declaring a mistrial on the other 10. But this outcome was unrelated to the reason special counsel Robert Mueller was appointed in the first place — to investigate the plot to assist Russia with hacking the Democratic National Committee and John Podesta emails and putting them on WikiLeaks during the 2016 election.

The appointment of Mueller as special counsel by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein in May 2017 was to investigate, mainly, “the Russian government’s efforts to interfere in the 2016 presidential election” and “any links and/or coordination between the Russian government and individuals associated with the campaign of President Donald Trump.”

Manafort wasn’t charged with any of those things. Nothing implicating Russia, the 2016 election or the hack. Instead, Manafort was charged with unrelated bank fraud and tax evasion charges from his time working not in Russia but in Ukraine as a political consultant. The specific charges dated from 2010 to 2015, which was before Manafort was brought on to be Donald Trump’s campaign manager in 2016.

If Manfort were ever going to be prosecuted for conspiring with Russia, Mueller would have done so by now. Similarly, former Trump personal attorney Michael Cohen has now pleaded guilty, not to Russia-related matters but to bank and tax charges.

This has always been a prosecution in search of a crime, as Mueller has well exceeded his mandate. All of which calls into question why Manafort was prosecuted by the special counsel in the first place and not simply a U.S. attorney the way Cohen was. If Trump campaign officials in fact did not coordinate with Russia, then it’s time for Mueller to wrap this up and stop wasting the nation’s time.