CNN chief legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin said there are three reasons why Paul Manafort might be lying to special counsel Robert Mueller on “New Day” Tuesday and said he might even be “shopping for a pardon.”
The panel was discussing Mueller’s claims about Manafort being untruthful with the special counsel and host John Berman asked why someone with a set deal would decide to be deceptive. (RELATED: Mueller Claims Manafort Violated Plea Deal By Lying To Investigators)
“Because they are A, stupid, B, arrogant, C, shopping for a pardon so they don’t have to worry about what the judge is going to sentence them — all of those are possibilities,” Toobin
“It is very unusual for someone who has a plea agreement to make the prosecutor so angry that they tear it up and say, you are getting — you are not getting any benefit from your cooperation. You’re going to jail for a long time,” he continued.
“And just in the immediate aftermath of this, it is very likely that Paul Manafort is now going to get a very long sentence as a result of this.”
WATCH:
Co-host Alisyn Camerota asked about the possibility of a pardon for Manafort and Toobin said Trump will only grant a pardon if it benefits him directly.
“Let’s see if he’s pardoned. Donald Trump pardons people because it’s in Donald Trump’s interest to pardon people. It’s not entirely clear to me that pardoning Paul Manafort, especially at this stage, is to his benefit. It would cause a political firestorm,” Toobin said.
“I don’t think his base is in love with Paul Manafort the way they were in love with Dinesh D’Souza or Joe Arpaio … So the bet on the pardon, if that’s what this is, is far from a sure thing.”
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