WATCH: Protestors Were Ready For Manafort's Attorney This Time

By Frances Langum — March 13, 2019

Everybody knew Manafort's attorney Kevin Downing was going to go before the microphones and lie about "no collusion."

The judge had already admonished him in court for making a claim that his client's trial had anything to do with the charges of conspiracy with Russia. It didn't.

Jackson says the "the no collusion refrain" that runs through defense documents has no relevance here. "The 'no collusion' mantra is simply a non-sequitur." Not particularly persuasive to say an investigation hasn't found anything when you've lied to investigators, she says.

— Ryan J. Reilly (@ryanjreilly) March 13, 2019

But Downing is speaking directly to Trump and hoping for a pardon for his client, so he says what Trump wants to hear and what Trump will repeat.

A judge appered to suggest Manafort was angling for a pardon by misleadingly invoking "no collusion" so much.

The Manafort team's response: Prove her point for her by doing it again right after the hearing.https://t.co/3wL9pKu2ue

— Aaron Blake (@AaronBlake) March 13, 2019

Kudos to the volume-blessed protestor who interrupted Downing's microphone schtick with a nice loud "LIAR! THAT'S NOT WHAT SHE SAID."

"That's not what she said" then becomes the story, rather than the lies of a mouthpiece for a criminal. More like this please.

And then there's this:

Manafort has spent 18 months investing all his efforts in a pardon strategy, led largely by Kevin Downing. Before Downing left the steps of Prettyman Courthouse, Cy Vance had utterly flipped reversed any value of a pardon for Manafort.

— emptywheel (@emptywheel) March 13, 2019

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