Dershowitz: Mueller will pressure Manafort to squeal on Trump

Paul Manafort’s 12-count indictment is the “first domino” that could lead to other, larger revelations about Russian involvement in the 2016 election, Harvard scholar and attorney Alan Dershowitz said Monday.

“Manafort now is the first domino, and what Mueller wants to do is see him as the first domino, the second domino, the third domino, ultimately trying to get to the big domino, which is President Trump,” Dershowitz said on “Fox & Friends.”

If Manafort has nothing to offer to assist Mueller’s larger investigation, then “he’s going to twist in the wind,” Dershowitz said.

{mosads}Manafort, Trump’s former campaign chairman, turned himself in to the FBI on Monday morning. He was indicted on 12 counts, including conspiracy against the United States, conspiracy to launder money, false statements and more. Rick Gates, Manafort’s business associate, was also advised to surrender.

“What they’re saying to him is, ‘we got you now, and we don’t care about that, but if you can tell us something about Trump and the campaign and collusion, we’ll give you a get out of jail card free,’” Dershowitz said. “So it’s all about leverage. That’s the way prosecutors work.”

Dershowitz called the prosecution strategy a “win-win” for special counsel Robert Mueller. If Mueller is unable to use Manafort to lead to larger indictments, “at least he’s earned some of his money,” Dershowitz said.