To hear Magavoter tell the story, “Judge’s new ruling in Manafort trial may be a death blow to Mueller’s scheme.”
“A new ruling by Federal Judge Amy Berman Jackson on Wednesday,” the blog post claims, “has barred Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s team may not [sic] discuss ‘Russian collusion’ during the trial of former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort.”
U.S. District Judge Jackson did decide that there would be no mention of Robert Mueller’s investigation allowed during the trial.
The article continues by citing a report from the Hill, which notes that Manafort was convicted in August “on eight counts of bank and tax fraud.”
Facebook pages such as “USA Patriots for Donald Trump” and “@KeepAmericaGreat20” shared the blog post, amassing thousands of reactions and comments.
Magavoter does not elaborate on “Mueller’s scheme” mentioned in the headline (a trope of misinformation-spreading blog posts) nor does it explain how this decision “may be a death blow” to said scheme.
The charges Manafort currently faces for this second trial pertain mainly to his political work in Ukraine years before his work as Donald Trump’s campaign manager. Given the fact that Manafort is facing these charges because of Mueller’s investigation, it is difficult to reason that because a Judge order moratorium on mentions of the probe, Mueller’s “schemes” are now somehow being thwarted.
As Reuters noted:
While the Magavoter article contains a correct fact, that the judge ruled against mentioning Mueller’s investigation, the misleading headline requires a rating of “mixed.” Mueller’s investigation extends far beyond Manafort and the current charges he faces. Judge Jackson’s decision does not change its course.
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