On March 29, 2016, Paul Manafort was named convention manager for Donald Trump’s campaign. Then on May 19th, he was promoted to campaign chairman and chief strategist. When his financial ties to former Ukranian President Viktor F. Yanukovych became public in mid-August, he resigned from that position.
Today, Manafort was found guilty on eight felony counts.
Paul Manafort, President Trump’s former campaign chairman, was convicted on Tuesday in his financial fraud trial, bringing a dramatic end to a politically charged case that riveted the capital…
Mr. Manafort was convicted of five counts of tax fraud, two counts of bank fraud and one count of failure to disclose a foreign bank account. The jury was unable to reach a verdict on 10 of the 18 counts and the judge declared a mistrial on those charges…
The trial focused on Mr. Manafort’s personal finances, in particular the tens of millions of dollars he made advising a political party in Ukraine that backed pro-Russia policies…
Mr. Manafort faces a second criminal trial next month in Washington on seven other charges brought by the special counsel, including obstruction of justice, failure to register as a foreign agent and conspiracy to launder money.
Let’s take a look at what twitter has to say about this. First up, this is only the beginning for Manafort.
Manafort could spend 80 years in jail—and we have only begun the judicial process of exploring his misdeeds. We’re not even close to the epilogue of his tale.
— Franklin Foer (@FranklinFoer) August 21, 2018
Next, here is the tally so far for the Trump campaign:
President Trump’s campaign chairman, national security adviser and personal lawyer are now all convicted or admitted felons
— John Harwood (@JohnJHarwood) August 21, 2018
The Senator from Virginia and ranking member of the the Intelligence Committee also weighed in with a brief comment.
Not a witch hunt.
— Mark Warner (@MarkWarner) August 21, 2018
And yet, we’re already starting to hear that this conviction has nothing to do with Donald Trump or Russian “collusion.”
The Manafort trial has nothing to do with Donald Trump. pic.twitter.com/L8T49RJaJd
— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) August 21, 2018
Since I wrote about the connection between Mueller’s investigation and HBO’s The Wire this morning, this one seemed appropriate:
Wee-bay, any thoughts on what’s unfolded today? pic.twitter.com/uYR4av04Cr
— Michael Cohen (@speechboy71) August 21, 2018
This is Mueller’s first shot across the bow at Donald Trump. It is certainly not the end, but it might be the beginning of the end.
