he s pleading guilty because he is, in fact, guilty as charged. he has to say he s doing it voluntarily and without any exalternatival pressure and have to disclose everything he s getting from the government in exchange for his plea. this could be a pretty interesting scenario. it s not even over when they start doing that. obviously gates, his associate proffered, made a terrible mistake, lied to robert mueller. don t lie to robert mueller never ends well for you. what does mueller and the team have a lot of people saying this will deal with the d.c. trial. why would he strike that deal? sure. there s some good reasons that a plea might be in everybody s best interest. paul manafort saves a lot of money. by the same token mueller done have to run through the trial the second time. doesn t have the risk that a juror might hold up or vote to acquit. short circuit is an appeal process manafort agrees not to