re: Honest Bob pursues new Trump-Russia collusion leads despite talk of probe winding down

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Defense attorney Kevin Downing called Mr. Weissmann’s theory “nonsense because no matter who gets elected, that the sanctions were going to continue against Russia. I think you need to consider this rank speculation.”

A Manafort supporter told The Washington Times, “There is no evidence of collusion.”

Manafort was sentenced on March 8 to just shy of four years in prison for tax and bank by fraud by U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III in Virginia.

Judge Jackson tacked on an additional 43 months at a March 13 hearing in Washington, D.C., for lobbying violations and witness tampering.

Judge Jackson, an Obama appointee, scolded Mr. Downing for saying there is no evidence of Manafort-Russia collusion. She said the Mueller investigation continues.

In a court filing, Mr. Downing said: “The Special Counsel’s strategy in bringing charges against Mr. Manafort had nothing to do with the Special Counsel’s core mandate — Russian collusion — but was instead designed to ‘tighten the screws’ in an effort to compel Mr. Manafort to cooperate and provide incriminating information about others.”

On the Ukraine question, Mr. Mueller still hasn’t closed his inquiry even though Republicans believe they have debunked the tale.

The charge is that while the Republican platform was being written at the Cleveland convention, Trump operatives took out language that would have encouraged lethal aid to Ukrainian forces fighting Russia-backed separatists.

In reality, a single delegate offered the lethal aid amendment for inclusion. It was never in the platform. Trump people, not wanting to commit a new administration to arming Ukraine, reached a compromise. The new language pledged support to the Ukrainian military.

The Republican majority of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence reviewed the various platform drafts and concluded the final product was stronger, not weaker, on Ukraine.

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