Manafort case may point to strategy against Flynn

A bail filing has clues of how Mueller could charge the former national security adviser over his work benefiting Turkey.

By JOSH GERSTEIN 11/20/2017 05:06 AM EST

What appear to be obscure details in a court filing against Paul Manafort, the former Trump campaign chairman, may actually provide clues about what’s next for another target in the special counsel’s Russia investigation: former national security adviser Michael Flynn.

Manafort and his business partner Rick Gates were charged late last month with a variety of crimes, including violation of the Foreign Agent Registration Act, or FARA, even though such a charge is rare. A 2016 Justice Department report found only seven FARA prosecutions in about half a century.

Like Manafort, Flynn belatedly registered as a foreign agent after coming under scrutiny by Justice Department prosecutors for activity by his consulting firm. Lawyers tracking the investigation said Flynn is unlikely to be charged with violating FARA unless, as with Manafort, special counsel Robert Mueller feels he can show the former national security adviser broke the rules in especially egregious ways.

“While criminal charges under FARA are not often brought,” the prosecutors wrote in the passage about why Manafort and Gates were charged with violating the statute, “the facts set forth in the indictment indicate the gravity of the violation at issue based on the dollar volume of earning from the violation, its longevity, its maintenance through creation of a sham entity designed to evade FARA’s requirements, and its continuation through lies to the FARA unit.”

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https://www.politico.com/story/2017/11/20/paul-manafort-michael-flynn-case-strategy-trump-russia-probe-247643