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Rachel Maddow showed how prosecutors in New York blew up Trump’s plan to use pardons to kill the Mueller investigation.

Maddow said:

That is why New York prosecutors today, not federal prosecutors, but state prosecutors in New York threw a huge wrench in the works for the White House today when they unsealed a brand-new 16-count felony indictment against presidential campaign chairman Paul Manafort just minutes after his sentence was announced in court in D.C. Obviously the immediate revelation everybody had upon seeing that indictment is whatever the president may be considering in terms of using the pardon power, and whatever the president might be thinking about whether he’s going to spring Manafort, either getting rid of his convictions all together, just getting rid of the federal prison time that Manafort is about to do, the immediate revelation from that New York indictment today was, well, as we all know, there is no such thing as a presidential pardon for state crimes.

There is no way a president can commute your state prison sentence. The president can’t get Paul Manafort out of New York charges. And that is one important thing to consider about the new Nw York indictment against manafort today, but I think there are a couple of other things that are worth figuring out here about this indictment given the importance of this development today. Again, not just for the fate of manafort himself, but for the whole proverbial kit and caboodle that is the Russia investigation and the question of the president’s ability to stop it.

Video:

Thanks to the state of New York, Trump’s plan to pardon his way out of trouble goes kaboom. https://t.co/4sTElSCG41 pic.twitter.com/gnM2tjIVL4

— PoliticusUSA (@politicususa) March 14, 2019

State charges can wreck Trump’s plan to end the Russia investigation

New York state charges could ensnare all of the major players in Trump world. Trump‘s kids Ivanka, Don Jr., and Eric are all in jeopardy to face state criminal charges because they are officials with the Trump Organization. Trump‘s son in law Jared Kushner could also face state charges. Trump himself could be indicted in New York. DOJ guidance suggests that a sitting president can’t be indicted, but the state of New York could take a run at him, even if it is likely that a court would likely delay any proceedings until Trump was out of office,

State charges make it impossible for Trump to buy the silence of those involved in the Russia scandal with the promise of pardons.

Trump thought that he could abuse his power to make the Russia scandal go away, but there is nothing that he can do to stop the states from seeking justice.

Manafort’s new indictment was a landmark bad day for Donald Trump.

For more discussion about this story join our Rachel Maddow and MSNBC group.

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Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

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Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association

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