Something tells me that Scrotus thinks he'll be able to fly under the radar by pinning this all on Manafort and saying he knew/authorized nothing, at least with the media. After all, blaming others and expecting them to shoulder the blame has been his past modus operandi. I think Scrotus' 'people' know that Manafort knows far too much to be scapegoated, but I think this may be one of those times where (hopefully) Trump goes rogue, convinced that he 'knows better'.
I agree that Pence is waiting in the wings, probably gleefully rubbing his hands and readying his 'pardon pen'. TBH, I bet they're waiting until they can give Scrotus a 'resign and be pardoned or be tried and impeached' ultimatum similar to the one Nixon received. Nixon resigned, but he was a politician, knew the game, and knew the jig was up. Scrotus knows nothing about politics. He only knows that he 'never loses' and there's always someone else he can force to take the blame.