Tierney Sneed is liveblogging Paul Manafort’s sentencing hearing this morning in Washington, DC. Watch it here.
Paul Manafort’s sentencing hearing is about to resume. We should hear the sentence shortly. Live coverage here.
Catch up on the Cindy Yang story and the rush of white supremacist and neo-nazi news in my conversation with Allegra Kirkland, Josh Kovensky and David Taintor. You can listen here.
If I understand this story correctly, Port Richey, Florida just had its second mayor arrested in the last three weeks. The first wasn’t your standard mayoral arrest. Mayor Dale Massad was arrested when he opened fire on a SWAT team that had come to arrest him on charges of practicing medicine out of his home without a license. Sheriff Chris Nocco said Massad was a violent drug user who kept a stash of weapons in his home, had had previous run-ins with the law and lost his medical license 25 years ago after a three year old patient died. Read More
[Request for opinions and guidance from lawyers and especially ones working in New York State toward the bottom of this post.]
Let me share a few thoughts and tips on the new Manafort charges from Manhattan, DA Cy Vance, Jr. They are twofold. Prosecutors I’ve spoken to seem close to unanimous that the indictments appear poorly drafted. Perhaps this is just the first bite at the apple and they’ll be revised or tightened. I don’t know. But related to that and likely more important: at least some of those with experience in New York State are skeptical whether at least some of these charges will survive New York State’s double jeopardy statute. Read More
This certainly seems like a strong sign that the Special Counsel’s Office is wrapping up its business.
Beto O’Rourke got an endorsement right out of the gate this morning from New York Rep. Kathleen Rice (D).
I’m proud to endorse my friend @BetoORourke for President!
He’s honest, authentic and has the courage of his convictions and a bold vision for our future. Most importantly, he'll build a movement that will rise above the toxic division in our politics and unite this country.
— Kathleen Rice (@KathleenRice) March 14, 2019
Lawyer for Mar-a-Lago massage parlor mogul says client is a victim of anti-Trump politics. What also seems revealing is that Yang’s lawyer has already held a fundraiser for Roger Stone’s legal defense fund. So she seems to part of the team.
From a Vermonter TPM Reader …
I’ve never had much good to say about Bernie as presidential candidate, despite ——- resolute support of him against Hillary. Part of that, though not all of it, arose from the observation (I think of it as a fact) that Bernie was a lazy, selfish candidate. His soi-disant “policy proposals” were little more than bumper-sticker slogans (“Break Up the Banks!”), and the ones he did flesh out a bit (e.g., “College for Everyone”) were, shall we say, lacking in actual understanding of how things actually work.
Striking to me that Beto appears to be quickly coalescing as the ‘moderate’/’centrist’ Dem presidential candidate for 2020.