Manafort convicted on 8 charges in tax trial
WASHINGTON — President Trump called the conviction of his former campaign chairman Paul Manafort on financial crimes “a disgrace” but insisted it has nothing to do with him.
Manafort was convicted yesterday in Virginia on charges brought by special counsel Robert Mueller, who is investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election and potential obstruction of justice. Meanwhile, Trump’s former attorney Michael Cohen pleaded guilty to his own charges in New York, saying he and Trump arranged the payment of hush money to porn star Stormy Daniels and a former Playboy model to influence the election.
Trump told reporters in West Virginia yesterday that Manafort’s conviction “has nothing to do with Russian collusion.” Of Manafort’s crimes, he said, “It doesn’t involve me.”
A federal jury convicted Manafort of eight charges in a trial for tax evasion, bank fraud and conspiracy, a victory for special counsel Robert S. Mueller III in the first criminal trial brought by his office.
The jury of six men and six women deadlocked on 10 other charges on the 16th day of a high-profile trial that focused in part on Manafort’s gilded lifestyle, making him a symbol of gaudy excess and greed in the Trump era.
Manafort, 69, was convicted on five counts of filing false tax returns, one count of not filing a report on a foreign bank account, and two counts of bank fraud; he could be sentenced to more than 60 years in prison. The judge plans to declare a mistrial on the other charges.
The case focused chiefly on Manafort’s efforts to hide tens of millions of dollars from his work as a political consultant in Ukraine before he joined Trump’s presidential campaign in March 2016. But evidence introduced at trial indicated some of the actions occurred as Manafort steered the candidate through the contentious Republican National Convention in Cleveland that summer.
Evidence also showed that after the election, Manafort tried to secure a Cabinet-level job in the Trump administration for a Chicago bank executive who had helped him get a $16-million loan in 2016 that prosecutors said was based on fraudulent documents. No job ultimately was arranged.
None of the charges cited Russia’s interference in the 2016 election, the intended focus of Mueller’s probe.
Manafort’s defense lawyers chose not to present any witnesses or evidence, gambling instead that the jury would simply reject the government’s case as unreliable or insufficient. Manafort confirmed to the judge that he would not take the stand.
Prosecutors prevailed despite frequent criticism from U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III, a stern jurist who repeatedly questioned prosecution tactics in front of the jury. Ellis sought to limit testimony about Manafort’s work in Ukraine and his opulent tastes, saying the details were not relevant to the legal question of whether he had evaded U.S. taxes.
Manafort faces another federal trial on related charges on Sept. 17 in Washington, D.C., and the judge in that case ordered him incarcerated in June after he was accused of attempted witness tampering.