With his 2016 campaign manager Paul Manafort agreeing on Friday to cooperate with the Russia investigation of Special Counsel Robert Mueller, as Inquistir reported, Donald Trump is “terrified” of what Manafort could reveal about him, according to the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee — who also warned other members of Trump’s inner circle that they should come clean to Mueller about what they know regarding Trump’s activities, or face the consequences.
“Anyone who gets indicted by Bob Mueller goes down,” said California House Rep. Adam Schiff, in an appearance on NBC’s Meet The Press reported by Politico . “The longer you wait to come clean, the worse deal you’re going to get, the more time you’re going to face.”
As compiled by Vox.com , of the eight Americans that were members of the 2016 Trump campaign, or somehow associated with the campaign, all eight have ultimately taken deals with Mueller and entered guilty pleas.
Mueller has also indicted 25 Russian nationals, on charges linked to the cyber hacking attacks on Democratic email servers, as Inquisitr reported, and a Russian online propaganda effort to covertly sway the election in Trump’s favor. Mueller also indicted a suspected Russian intelligence agent, Konstantin Kilimnik — a business associate of Manafort — on charges that he helped Manafort tamper with potential witnesses in his case. All of the Russians, however, remain in Russia.
“Manafort is a key person to help us unwind whether this is the most unlikely string of improbable coincidences or whether this is an active conspiracy,” Schiff said on the NBC program, according to USA Today .
Schiff also said, according to The Hill , that even though Trump and Manafort had a “joint defense agreement,” meaning that their legal teams would share information, “they have to know that he may not have told them the full truth. “They’re terrified of what he has to say. I’m surprised that we are where we are, that Manafort is cooperating.”
In January, according to an NBC News report, Trump told friends that he was confident Manafort would not “‘flip’ and sell him out,” apparently expressing concern that Manafort could incriminate him if he did “flip” — an eventuality that as of last week has now taken place.
