meanwhile - Marshall, TPM "Bigger Than People Seem to Realize" (re Manafort)

[regnaD kciN]

7. Can Manafort even "cop to that" anymore?

Even if he chose to "come clean," he's already on the record as having lied to prosecutors after promising cooperation as part of his plea deal. That automatically makes him a highly-unreliable witness. Even if he were to say, "yes, I received this data directly from Mr. Trump himself, with orders to give it to the Russians," it probably wouldn't stand up in court -- everyone would just assume a proven liar was cooking up another lie to earn himself a lighter sentence.