ABC News chief legal analyst and Mediaite founder Dan Abrams says Paul Manafort might be trying to pull a double bluff with his plea deal with Robert Mueller and his apparent coordination with President Trump‘s legal team.

Abrams joined George Stephanopoulos on Wednesday to discuss the New York Times‘ report that Manafort’s lawyers are telling Trump’s lawyers about what his former campaign chairman is telling the special counsel, even as Manafort’s plea deal seems to be crumbling. As Stephanopoulos remarked that Manafort seems to be “playing both sides” with this joint defense agreement, Abrams noted that the circumstances would suggest that Manafort might never have turned against Trump at all.

“It’s starting to feel like he was on a fact-finding mission for the Trump team to figure out exactly what do they want, what kind of questions are they asking, et cetera.”

Abrams went on to say that Trump’s tweets and public statements could’ve been framed by what he learned from Manafort, so they could be used as both a legal defense and as a “cudgel” against Mueller. This coincides with what Abrams said on Tuesday about how Manafort might be banking on a presidential pardon.

By saying ‘I’m with you, prosecutors,’ and then not just not cooperating, but – according to prosecutors – lying repeatedly…You have to believe he thinks he’s got another option here,” Abrams explained.

Watch above, via ABC.

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