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Paul Manafort Tag

President Donald Trump pardoned former campaign chairman Paul Manafort on Christmas Eve after a court found him guilty of tax fraud, bank fraud, and concealing his foreign bank accounts. Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. thought his case against Manafort could go forward. But the New York Court of Appeals, the state's highest court, put a stop to the case.

Here at LI, we have covered extensively President Trump's former campaign chair Paul Manafort.  Manafort, who is serving time in federal prison after being indicted by Robert Mueller, was also charged by New York state in an apparent effort to block a possible Trump pardon. The effort has, so far, failed as a NY judge has tossed out the case, citing double jeopardy.

US District Judge Amy Berman Jackson sentenced Paul Manafort, the former campaign chair for President Donald Trump, to an additional 43 months. US District Judge T.S. Ellis sentenced Manafort to 47 months. That means Manafort will spend 90 months in prison for a total of 7.5 years, "minus nine months credit for time served." Right after sentencing, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., indicted Manafort on 16 charges that Trump cannot pardon him from.

Special Counsel Robert Mueller claims that Paul Manafort, the former chairman for then-presidential candidate Donald Trump, lied to the FBI and investigators "on a variety of subject matters," which means he broke his plea agreement. NBC News continued:
Manafort, 69, was convicted of eight counts of tax evasion and bank fraud in August. In September, he agreed to cooperate with Mueller's investigation when he pleaded guilty to two new counts and admitted his guilt to 10 counts outstanding from the earlier trial in Virginia.

Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort faced a second trial this month on seven counts of foreign lobbying violations and witness tampering. Reports have surfaced this morning that Manafort will plead guilty to two criminal charges. Special counsel Robert Mueller has filed superseding criminal information, which "typically precedes a guilty plea, and a plea hearing for Manafort has been scheduled for 11 a.m. in federal court in Washington, D.C."

Federal Judge T.S. Ellis denied a mainstream media coalition request to release the names and home addresses of the jurors in the Paul Manafort trial in the Eastern District of Virginia. The request by the media was made, to much fanfare and publicity, on the first day of jury deliberations.

The jury in the Paul Manafort trial has ended deliberations for the day without a verdict. This comes after jury questions yesterday, including asking the judge to clarify the meaning of "reasonable doubt." As mentioned in yesterday's post, Paul Manafort is being prosecuted because of who he knows. I hope he walks, the judge's guidance probably didn't clarify anything:

The jury ended its first day of deliberations in the prosecution of Paul Manafort in the Eastern District of Virginia. When this trial is over, Manafort faces a second trial on other charges in federal court in D.C. The jury asked the judge for help understanding "reasonable doubt." As is usual in these situations, the judge didn't give much help, explaining that reasonable doubt was "doubt based on reason" but did not require "guilt beyond all possible doubt."