Moments after Michael Cohen pleaded guilty to eight counts of fraud, Paul Manafort was found guilty in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia on five tax charges of tax fraud, one count of failing to file a foreign bank account, and two counts of bank fraud. There are another ten counts where the jury could not reach a consensus, so a mistrial was declared on those counts. The president’s former campaign manager faces a maximum of up to 80 years in prison (Manafort is 69 years old).
As bad as this sounds for Paul Manafort, it’s actually worse, as Politico’s Kyle Cheney reminded everyone on Twitter.
Manafort’s conviction is just the start of his troubles. He’s facing money laundering and illegal lobbying charges in DC next month. And prosecutors could revisit the charges in VA as well.
— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) August 21, 2018
Just to recap.
—Donald Trump’s campaign manager: Found guilty by a jury.
—Donald Trump’s fixer/attorney: Pleaded guilty to eight counts.
—Donald Trump’s first National Security Adviser: Pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI.
—Donald Trump’s campaign manager’s deputy: Pleaded guilty to conspiracy and to lying to the FBI.
But yeah, this is just some big WITCH HUNT or something.
Jacob Weindling is a staff writer for Paste politics. Follow him on Twitter at @Jakeweindling.