Push for more Manafort convictions

New York prosecutors hoping to file state mortgagefraud charges against Paul Manafort say their case is different from one that sent President Trump’s former campaign chairman to federal prison and should not have been thrown out.

The appeal, which was filed in April but made publicly available Thursday, argues that Manafort’s case should be exempt from state double jeopardy, which does not allow the prosecution of a person twice for the same offense, because of the different aspects of the crimes committed in the federal case, which ended with Manafort convicted on eight counts of tax and bank fraud and a hung jury on 10 other counts.

Judge Maxwell Wiley threw out a state indictment against Manafort on December 19 last year after finding state law did not permit his prosecution — as some of the same issues were adjudicated in his federal trial.

Manhattan prosecutors announced a litany of charges against the disgraced ex-Trump campaign boss in March 2019 just minutes after he was sentenced to 7½ years behind bars.

Manafort was convicted in Manhattan Federal Court for crimes relating to his shady consulting work for pro Russian politicians in Ukraine uncovered by former special counsel Robert Mueller.

Among other charges, prosecutors at the Manhattan DA’s office have accused Manafort of fraudulently obtaining over $19 million in residential mortgage loans and a $1 million line of credit.