Commentary: Timing of Twin Convictions for Mueller Team Hardly Coincidental

Robert Mueller, head of the Special Counsel investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections, leaves following a meeting in Washington on June 21, 2017. Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images

On the same day in late August—Aug. 22, 2018—two close associates of President Donald Trump were convicted in federal court: Paul Manafort by a jury and Michael Cohen through a negotiated plea.

The timing of these convictions is hardly coincidental. They no doubt involved a calculated decision—to create the illusion of momentum.