In Manafort Deal, Mueller Made Sure a Trump Pardon Would Do No Good

One little-noticed aspect of the plea deal and cooperation agreement between Paul Manafort and Robert Mueller is that they are structured so that a presidential pardon by Donald Trump will do him no good.
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There are two main factors that would lessen the impact of a Trump pardon for Manafort:

The first factor is that Manafort has already talked to Mueller and his team. A rationale for a pardon would be to reward Manafort for not “flipping” but it’s too late for that.
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The second factor is that Manafort has already admitted guilt IN WRITING on all of the charges he faced.

Each of those criminal admissions have given state prosecutors the ability to charge Manafort immediately for the same crimes, but under state law. So a Trump pardon wouldn’t even help, since he can pardon only federal crimes.
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There is much to lose for Donald Trump in pardoning Paul Manafort, and little to gain. The genius of Robert Mueller has shown through once again. The steps he took in structuring the Manafort deal make it virtually certain that Donald Trump will conclude that a Manafort pardon is not in his best interest. And Donald Trump is not known for doing things that help other people instead of himself. - PoliticusUSA