NY DA sends a message: don’t count on Trump pardons
by digby
So Manafort got 7.5 years total in prison. That’s a long time, especially at his age. His lawyers are still crudely angling for a pardon for him:
Just so it's crystal clear, this is all part of the campaign for a presidential pardon. https://t.co/crCEqzycgb— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) March 13, 2019
Prosecutors with the Manhattan district attorney’s office announced state fraud charges Wednesday against Paul Manafort.
The announcement adds to the legal trouble for Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman, who is already facing years in prison on federal charges.
The newly filed charges are separate from the two concluded federal cases stemming from special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation. Shortly before the New York announcement, Manafort, 69, was ordered to serve an additional 43 months on federal conspiracy charges, bringing his total sentence between two federal courts to 7.5 years in twin cases stemming from the Mueller probe.
His guilty plea can and will be used against him …
Manafort has nothing to gain from a pardon. He’ll immediately go on trial in New York h=if he gets one. But then he knew this was a possibility. So maybe the theory that he truly feared something other than jail if he admitted his collusiohn is the correct one.
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