How Long Will Manafort Languish In His Prison Cell Before Flipping? Guiliani Tells Him To Hang Tight-- The Cavalry Is On The Way

One of my neighbors asked me yesterday if Manafort will be allowed to keep dyeing his hair while he's in prison. I don't think so; isn't hair dye poisonous? He could poison himself or another inmate. I was once in an Afghan prison but my business partner, a relative of the king, got me out before I could settle into a routine or observe such about how the inmates groomed themselves. Besides, it was basically just a hole in the earth with no running water. In America I've been in jails, not prisons and I don't even remember anyone taking my belt away. My mom came and bailed me out in a few hours. And I never dyed my hair anyway.

A better question would have been how long will Trump let him stay in prison before bailing him out-- well not "bailing," "pardoning."  If there's one thing Trump doesn't want, it would be Manafort cooperating with Mueller. Yesterday the judge in the case, Amy Berman Jackson, revoked his bail and said he'll be waiting for the trial to begin in a prison cell.

"The harm in this case is harm to the administration of justice and harm to the integrity of the court's system," Berman Jackson told Manafort in court.

The judge emphasized to Manafort how she could not make enough rulings to keep him from speaking improperly with witnesses, after he had used multiple text messaging apps and called a potential witness on an Italian cell phone.

"This is not middle school. I can't take his cell phone," she said of Manafort. "I thought about this long and hard, Mr. Manafort. I have no appetite for this."

...Three U.S. marshals led Manafort out of the courtroom into the prisoner holding area immediately after the judge's ruling. He was not placed in handcuffs. Before he disappeared through the door, he turned toward his wife and supporters and gave a stilted wave.

Minutes later, a marshal returned to give his wife, Kathleen, still standing in the courtroom's front row, Manafort's wallet, belt and the burgundy tie he wore Friday.

In a tweet, Trump said the decision to revoke Manafort's bail is "tough," although he referred to it as a "sentence."

"Wow, what a tough sentence for Paul Manafort, who has represented Ronald Reagan, Bob Dole and many other top political people and campaigns. Didn't know Manafort was the head of the Mob. What about Comey and Crooked Hillary and all of the others? Very unfair!"

In her wind-up to her order, Berman Jackson also gave a brief nod to the bitter environment around the case.

"This hearing is not about politics, is not about conduct of the office of the special counsel."

Giuliani told Manafort-- through the NY Daily News-- to hold tight and Trump will pardon him. The exact quote from the babbling imbecile was "When the whole thing is over, things might get cleaned up with some presidential pardons... I don’t understand the justification for putting him in jail. You put a guy in jail if he’s trying to kill witnesses, not just talking to witnesses."

“That kind of investigation should not go forward,” Giuliani said. “It’s time for Justice to investigate the investigators.”

Echoing his boss’ factually dubious claims, Giuliani said a scathing report released by Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz on Thursday shows the Mueller team is “tainted.”

“After they get slapped around for their excessively zealous behavior, they go and do something that proves Horowitz is right,” Giuliani said of Manafort’s incarceration. “They’re out of control.”

Despite Giuliani’s claims, Horowitz stressed in his 500-page report that he found no evidence of political bias in the course of investigating whether the FBI mishandled its investigation into Hillary Clinton’s email usage. Horowitz found several instances of questionable judgement by investigators, but repeatedly emphasized there is no evidence to suggest that investigative decisions were made with political prejudice.

Nonetheless, Giuliani and the President have pounced on the report as proof of a widespread anti-Trump bias among Mueller’s investigators.

...Legal experts said the purpose of Giuliani’s comment was clear.

“It’s going to be interpreted as a message to Manafort not to panic,” said Nicholas Gravante, a New York white collar criminal defense lawyer. “This can come off as Rudy telling Manafort, ‘if push comes to shove here, you’re going to get pardoned, so keep your mouth shut.’”

...“Why isn’t Manafort flipping?” Mariotti said. “One word: pardon.”