Manafort Faces Federal Trial With A Hint Of A Presidential Pardon, LA Times
- Manafort Faces Federal Trial With A Hint Of a Presidential Pardon - Los Angeles Times, 4 hrs. ago, July 21, 2018.
WASHINGTON — When Paul Manafort, President Donald Trump's former campaign chairman, goes on trial Wednesday in Virginia on charges of money laundering, tax fraud and other crimes, he may have reason to hope he can avoid prison if he is convicted.
Last month, Rudy Giuliani, the president's personal lawyer, suggested that Trump may pardon Manafort. Trump has already pardoned several high-profile supporters. Giuliani's framing of terms for pardoning Manafort sparked instant political and legal controversy. Critics said Manafort could see Giuliani's comments as a signal that Trump will continue to resist cooperation with special counsel Robert S. Mueller III, who brought the charges.
Mueller's investigation has led to criminal charges against 32 people, including 25 Russians, as part of his investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 campaign, whether Trump or anyone else committed obstruction of justice and other crimes. Manafort is the first defendant from that investigation to go on trial, first in Alexandria, Va., and then in Washington. The dozen charges center on his work as an adviser to the Russian-backed government in Ukraine, but the conspiracy continued through the Trump campaign, prosecutors allege.
Giuliani first raised the prospect of a presidential pardon the day U.S. District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson, who is hearing the Washington case, revoked Manafort's $10 million bail for what prosecutors said was witness tampering, and ordered him to jail until his trial. "When the whole thing is over, things might get cleaned up with some presidential pardons," Giuliani told the New York Daily News on June 15.
..You are not going to get a pardon just because you are involved in this investigation," Giuliani said. "But you are certainly not excluded from it, if in fact the president and his advisers — not me — come to the conclusion that you have been treated unfairly." obstructing justice..Giuliani said his comments were not "in any way improper." In text messages to the Los Angeles Times, he said he did not believe that Manafort could interpret his comments to discourage possible cooperation with Mueller's team. ..Trump has not decided on a pardon for Manafort "and is far away from doing it as far as I know," he said. "I am confident that no matter what, Mr. Manafort has not an iota of information concerning the president."...Read more..
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