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Alan Dershowitz: Why is Paul Manafort off to Rikers? Prepare to be shocked (and outraged) fxn.ws/2Moeawb #FoxNews
Whatever the reason for the transfer, it seems like the selective application of the law for partisan purposes.
The tactic of squeezing a potential witness by making his imprisonment unbearably harsh is generally reserved for mafioso, terrorists and other violent criminals who may have evidence against their bosses.
New York District Attorney Cyrus Vance, a decent man, has justified his transfer by invoking the cliché that no one is above the law. But what does that have to do with this decision?
In my experience, defendants serving time in federal prisons for federal crimes who are then indicted for state crimes are not usually transferred to Rikers until the eve of their state trials.
Manafort is being treated differently and more harshly because of his past connections to President Trump and the fear that Trump will exercise his constitutional authority to pardon Manafort.
If that is the reason he is being transferred, it makes no sense. Manafort is already under state indictment.
If Trump were to pardon him, he could be immediately arrested and brought to New York, where he would have the right to seek release on bail for the non-violent New York crime of which he is presumed innocent.
It certainly appears as if New York is punishing Manafort for his association with Trump.
Judge T.S. Ellis, who presided over Manafort’s first trial, understood that he was not the real object of the special prosecutor. He was being charged in order to get him to “sing” against the real object of the investigation: namely resident Trump.
Judge Ellis also pointed out the dangers of putting such pressure on a potential witness: sometimes they not only sing, they also “compose.”
Perhaps that is the real reason behind the decision to transfer Manafort: the DA hopes that he might be motivated to provide evidence of state crimes for which Trump could be charged.
