Manafort Deal? Trump Impeachment?

Manafort made a deal to avoid his pending trial in Washington, DC.

It is NOT clear that he will cooperate with the Mueller probe - this may have been a normal deal to admit guilt, and avoid a trial with an agreed-upon sentence.

If Manafort only made a normal plea, and will not cooperate with Mueller, then the pursuit of collusion/conspiracy against the USA charges against Trump Jr., and Kushner, and therefore the impeachment of Trump is likely over.  

Aside - is Mueller talking to Hicks at the same time, hoping to announce that both have flipped at the same time?

The whole point of charging Manafort, other than the fact that he is a crook who should face criminal sanction, is to have one of the three men who was at the June, 2016, meeting with the Russians testify about what they thought they were doing. This direct evidence would be crucial to any charges....

Hope Hicks is watching carefully. She is the link to Trump himself via Cohen, who,with her, advised him as he personally crafted the cover story for the above mentioned meting. If Manafort is not cooperating, it is impossible to imagine a situation in which Hicks will flip.

And Trump? 

He is hardly the tough guy; the ready-to-take-the-hard decisions type of leader that his loud bluster would suggest. He has fired Comey and tried to push around Sessions and Mueller in Tweets - that's it. No pardons, no other firings. He has left these tools unused.  

If Manafort deals with Mueller, he will regret not giving him a pardon and trying to ride out the storm.

Welcome to the stretch run...