washington in full panic mode after manafort indictment

Manafort and his attorneys argued that he hadn't knowingly engaged in a pattern of deception with the prosecutors in the case and that his cooperation agreement should stay in force - that he should get credit for his plea and for the information he had given the government. Manafort committed crimes that undermined our political process and subverted the due process of law.' 'We're here today for crimes that Paul Manafort committed for over a decade' - crimes that involved over 30 offshore accounts in at least three foreign countries, hiding income he used 'to fuel his extravagant lifestyle,' prosecutor Andrew Weissmann told the judge. Prosecutors had asked the judge not to take Manafort's cooperation into consideration when assessing what sentence he should receive and, on Wednesday, the government argued he deserved a serious punishment. Manafort agreed to cooperate with prosecutors after his guilty plea, but the office of Justice Department special counsel Robert Mueller said he began lying in his interviews. National Security Manafort Intentionally Lied To Special Counsel, Judge Says A number of people wrote letters to Jackson supporting Manafort including his wife, one of his daughters and his brother. Manafort's hair is now mostly gray, and he reviewed documents in court ahead of the judge's ruling. Manafort appeared in court in Washington on Wednesday in a dark business suit - a change from the green prison uniform in his Virginia hearing - sitting in the wheelchair he has used since attorneys say he developed health problems while in jail. It's not something that's right now on my mind.'

Trump said on Wednesday that he feels 'very badly' for Manafort and that he has been the victim of a 'sad situation.'Īs to a pardon, however, Trump said: 'I have not even given it a thought as of this moment. Prior to Manafort's being sentenced in federal court or the announcement of the state indictment, President Trump had declined to rule out the prospect of a pardon for the federal crimes of which Manafort has pleaded guilty or been convicted. National Security Trump: Manafort Pardon Not 'Off The Table' After Briefings From Manafort's Lawyer Vance's statement described 'a yearlong residential mortgage fraud scheme through which Manafort and others falsified business records to illegally obtain millions of dollars.'

Separately on Wednesday, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance announced that a grand jury in New York City had returned an indictment of its own against Manafort. But the judge in Washington ultimately increased the total amount of prison time.Ī federal judge in Virginia had sentenced Manafort to just under four years in federal prison and ordered that he pay $24.8 million in restitution and a $50,000 fine. Jackson said Manafort could serve some of the prison sentence at the same time he was serving in prison for his other case. Judge Amy Berman Jackson effectively added about 3 1/2 years in prison to the sentence Manafort received last week from a different judge in the Eastern District of Virginia. District Courtroom during his sentencing hearing in Washington on Wednesday.įormer Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort received a total sentence of about 7 1/2 years in federal prison on Wednesday following the guilty plea in his Washington, D.C., conspiracy case. This courtroom sketch shows Paul Manafort listening to Judge Amy Berman Jackson in the U.S.

Washington in full panic mode after manafort indictment