Manipulation requires intent and action: "I believe they won't do B unless I do A, so I do A." "I believe they won't do B unless I do A" on its own is har

Manipulation requires intent and action: "I believe they won't do B unless I do A, so I do A." "I believe they won't do B unless I do A" on its own is harmless—there's no action. "I do A" on its own is unintentional. Does anyone really act without intent? Legal systems have (imperfect) ways to ascertain intent (AKA premeditation), causality, and harm, so they can deal with the concept of manipulation.