Pavel Manafort's Trials and Tribulations

[AmazonGrace]

 

 

That's a lot of criminal.

Shorter Mueller: Manafort is a lying liar who lies.

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Did we know that Manafort is a Saudi agent too? I didn't. But I guess I should have known. (Because of course he is.)

1986 is ancient but who says it stopped when Manafort says it stopped.

[AmazonGrace]

Please don't be mad, Manafort did nothing but criminal

[GreyhoundFan]

"Paul Manafort wants sentence ‘significantly below’ guidelines in Virginia"

Spoiler

Paul Manafort asked a federal judge in Virginia to give him a prison term “significantly below” the 19 to 24 years called for under sentencing guidelines, calling that range “clearly disproportionate to” his crimes of bank and tax fraud.

This is the former Trump campaign chairman’s second bid for leniency as he faces punishment in two cases prosecuted by special counsel Robert S. Mueller III. He is set to be sentenced in Virginia at 3:30 p.m. Thursday, and in Washington, D.C., six days later.

Manafort again emphasized his fragile health, financial losses and personal humiliation, while questioning the motives of his prosecutors.

“Mr. Manafort acknowledges that he received a fair trial before this Court, he accepts the jury’s verdict, and is truly remorseful for his conduct,” they wrote. But, as they did in D.C., his attorneys added that “the Special Counsel’s attempt to vilify Mr. Manafort as a lifelong and irredeemable felon is beyond the pale and grossly overstates the facts.”

Manafort, 69, was found guilty of stashing the money he made as a lobbyist from Ukrainian oligarchs overseas to avoid taxes and then committing bank fraud to keep up a lavish lifestyle when his patrons lost power. Although jurors could not agree on 10 out of 18 charges, Manafort later admitted full culpability while pleading guilty to related crimes in D.C. federal court.

There was nothing “particularly sophisticated” about Manafort’s crimes, his lawyers say, that would merit harsher treatment.

It was Manafort’s billionaire clients who insisted on paying through foreign bank accounts, they say, although Manafort now admits he then used those accounts to evade taxes by when buying high-end suits and multimillion-dollar homes.

When the money dried up, Manafort falsified records and lied to banks to keep the cash flowing through loans. But his lawyers argue that there is “no evidence that he purposely sought to inflict financial harm” on the banks and that he failed to keep up with the loans only because the government froze his assets.

Again Manafort’s lawyers say he was no criminal mastermind, pointing to testimony that he and employee Rick Gates “simply altered Microsoft Word documents to reflect incorrect income information, or they provided the banks with outdated or fabricated information.”

Manafort has previously found a somewhat sympathetic ear in the Virginia case from Judge T.S. Ellis III. His attorneys even quote the judge to argue that Manafort was singled out by the special counsel so he would help with their probe of Russian involvement in the 2016 presidential election and provide details of President Trump’s campaign.

“The Special Counsel’s strategy in bringing charges against Mr. Manafort had nothing to do with the Special Counsel’s core mandate — Russian collusion — but was instead designed to ‘tighten the screws’ to compel Mr. Manafort to cooperate and provide incriminating information about others,” they wrote.

After losing at trial in Virginia, Manafort did plead guilty to related crimes in federal court in Washington and agreed to cooperate with the special counsel.

But the D.C. judge, Amy Berman Jackson, later concluded that Manafort lied repeatedly to investigators. Defense attorneys asked Ellis to draw his own conclusions based on the record as to whether Manafort lied.

In both Virginia and Washington, Mueller’s team has refrained from asking for any specific punishment for Manafort. But they emphasized that his dishonest conduct spanned years and continued even after his indictment and convictions. He shows, they argued, “a hardened adherence to committing crimes and lack of remorse.”

There is no upper limit on Manafort’s Virginia sentence. His sentence in Washington is capped at 10 years but could run consecutive to any prison term in the Virginia case.

When someone says to me that they "want" something, my reply is usually okay, I want several million dollars and George Clooney.

[onekidanddone]

He worked for Trump so any chance for saving him from personal humiliation is moot. 

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Rachel saying Manafort's lawyers sentencing memo is targeted more at Trump than the judge.

 

Also featured: Eric Swalwell and Jared kushner's lawyer's flustered statements.

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Manafort's lawyers are arguing that the court should unredact references to Konstantin Kilimnik talking to State Dept officials  as if it disproves that he's a Russian spy and it's not clear why. I mean, Russian spies try to talk to gov people all the time.

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Mueller thinks Manafort is full of crap but that it does not qualify as a health issue 

 

This is kind of funny 

Every criminal could find something they weren't charged for if this worked

[fraurosena]

Who exactly is he trying to gain sympathy from? 

 

 

[AmazonGrace]

Never mind whether Manafort dies in jail, we may all die of old age before he gets to hear his sentence...

As per courthouse tweets, he is still a rich man. He doesn't get credit for cooperation. He did meet with prosecutors for over 50 hours but they had to keep sorting out his lies.

Manafort addressed the judge and said he's been humiliated.

He said prayer and faith have been keeping him brave in solitary confinement. (Funny how they didn't keep him from doing crimes.)

[GreyhoundFan]

"The Washington Post asks court to unseal records in Manafort case"

Spoiler

Objecting to an abundance of sealed and redacted records in the criminal case against Paul Manafort, the president’s former campaign chairman, The Washington Post petitioned a federal court Thursday to open those records to public view.

The paper’s motion cited “the profound public interest in these proceedings” — as well as in the overall investigation by special counsel Robert S. Mueller III into Russia’s efforts to interfere with the 2016 presidential election, which has swept up Manafort and scores of others. “The investigation, which concerns the integrity of this country’s elections, goes to the core of the interests protected by the First Amendment,” the motion, filed in U.S. District Court in Washington, said.

The filing comes as Manafort, 69, faces sentencing Thursday in Virginia and next Wednesday in Washington.

He pleaded guilty in Washington to two conspiracy counts of hiding millions he earned as an unregistered lobbyist for Ukrainian politicians over a decade and, after he was charged in October 2017, attempting to tamper with witnesses.

He was convicted at a federal trial in Alexandria in August on related charges of bank and tax fraud.

At issue are redacted or sealed filings, sentencing memos, hearing transcripts and more than 800 pages of exhibits submitted after the special counsel’s office alleged in November that Manafort voided his cooperation agreement with prosecutors in Washington by lying to them about five subjects over more than 50 hours of interviews before and after his guilty plea.

Prosecutors submitted the materials to substantiate their allegations but did so under seal or with heavy redactions, arguing that information related to uncharged individuals or ongoing criminal investigations, including secret grand jury matters, should not become public.

“The long-standing principle of open criminal proceedings deserves to be sustained in this important case, especially considering that it comes in the context of an investigation into the integrity of a presidential election and relentless attacks on the investigation itself,” Washington Post Executive Editor Martin Baron said in a statement.

The Supreme Court has recognized the public’s right of access to records under the First Amendment and common law, including to pre- and post-trial documents and court proceedings. However, courts have upheld that the presumption of access can be overcome when the government proves it has a “compelling interest” to protect, such as grand jury secrecy, individuals’ privacy or a pending law enforcement investigation.

But such exceptions must be narrowly tailored and can be time-limited, courts have found, given the impact on core First Amendment rights and the principles of self-government and government transparency.

Federal judges in Washington have upheld the public’s right to access criminal case materials, particularly in closed investigations, finding that the government can keep matters sealed only by showing a substantial probability that disclosing them would harm the compelling interest at stake and that no alternatives would adequately protect them.

Such exceptions may include materials that refer to uncharged third parties or confidential informants, potentially harming the reputations of innocent people or the ability of the government to obtain evidence in future investigations.

The Post argues that the court in Manafort’s case should be more selective when barring materials from public view, ensuring that a compelling interest indeed exists.

“The Post acknowledges that protection of ongoing criminal investigations has been recognized as a compelling interest that could justify sealing, at least as a general matter,” the motion said. “But courts are not permitted to simply rubber-stamp the government’s assertions on this front — the Court must make specific findings showing that the sealing of any material is narrowly tailored to actually serve that interest.”

U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson in Washington ruled last month that Manafort breached his cooperation agreement, exposing the defendant to stiffer punishment at sentencing.

In response to a question by Manafort attorney Kevin M. Downing of when the government might move to unseal materials, Jackson said she was open to motions by either side or third parties, including the news media. She noted that search warrant materials in Manafort’s case were partially unsealed last summer.

Jackson found that Manafort lied about three of the five subjects alleged by prosecutors. She ruled the subjects were material to the special counsel’s investigation of links between Trump campaign officials and Russia’s interference in the 2016 election, but did not elaborate on the aspects that made them key.

Prosecutors have said one topic about which Manafort lied goes “very much to the heart of what the special counsel’s office is investigating,” namely potential links between Trump officials and Russia’s interference in the election that brought Donald Trump to the White House.

While details are unclear and heavily redacted, court filings show the government focused on Manafort’s interactions with a Russian political operative and longtime employee of his consulting business in Ukraine, Konstantin Kilimnik, whom the FBI has assessed has links to Russian intelligence, and particularly on an Aug. 2, 2016, meeting in a New York City cigar bar at the height of the campaign.

Prosecutors said Manafort lied about the meeting at the Grand Havana Room in Manhattan, and unsealed portions of transcripts suggest that Manafort and Kilimnik may have exchanged key information about a potential peace plan in Ukraine important to Russia, as well as possibly internal Trump campaign polling data.

“The allegation that Paul Manafort breached his plea agreement by lying to investigators is of intense public interest, and the special counsel has noted that it centers on material issues that go ‘very much to the heart’ of what that office has been examining,” Baron said. “And yet this supremely high-profile, politically contentious case is unfolding with key documents having been heavily redacted or entirely sealed from public view.”

The Post’s attorneys, Laura R. Handman and Eric J. Feder of the Davis Wright Tremaine law firm, asked Jackson to unseal the records after giving the government 10 days to respond.

The Post also asked that the judge require prosecutors to notify the court within seven days once any related pending investigation is ending, for potential further unsealing of materials, and to justify the continued sealing of any remaining material every four weeks.

 

[AmazonGrace]

He got 47 months because he's lived a blameless life, apart from being a criminal.

[GreyhoundFan]

Four years. That's insane. I hope the DC judge is rougher.

[GreyhoundFan]

I'm still so angry today about the piddly sentence. I've seen many complaints online.

Spoiler

 

 

[Howl]

Infuriating.  He got a rich white-guy sentence.  And he's not blameless; he worked for dictators who burned people alive in Africa, and caused an incredible amount of blood to be shed in Ukraine.  Fuck Manafort AND the judge.

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[fraurosena]

Can Manafort's sentence be appealed?

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Manafort is back in court and it seems this judge is better at calling out the bullcrap. 

In the end it doesn't amount to that much extra though. 

BREAKING: Paul Manafort has been sentenced to: -

Count 1: 60 months, with 30 months concurrent with EDVA sentence -

Count 2: 13 months, to run consecutive to count 1 and the EDVA sentence

73 months in total, 6 + years. 

[Howl]

And the issue of Manafort serving only a "short time" as Trump's campaign manager? 

The "short time" is due to Manafort's Ukrainian/Russian ties being exposed and Manafort getting the boot from the campaign. 

I remember being gobsmacked on hearing in July of that year that Manafort had *gasp!* Ukrainian/Russian ties.  It was shocking at the time. 

Now, sadly, it's business as usual. 

Edited March 13, 2019 by Howl

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[GreyhoundFan]

"Manafort charged with fraud in New York after DC sentencing"

Quote

Prosecutors with the Manhattan district attorney’s office announced state fraud charges against Paul Manafort, adding to the legal trouble for Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman who is already facing years in prison on federal charges.

Earlier today, Manafort was sentenced in a DC court to serve an additional 43 months in prison on top of his sentence he received last week from the court in Virginia.

Manafort will serve a total of seven and a half years in prison for two cases.

 

[AmazonGrace]

 

Throw the book at him. Throw a library if you miss... 

If it's state charges that oughta do away with a Trump pardon, right? 

Paul Manafort lived an otherwise blameless life, if you don't count all the crimes that he hasn't been charged for yet. 

 

[GreyhoundFan]

6 minutes ago, AmazonGrace said:

If it's state charges that oughta do away with a Trump pardon, right? 

That's correct, Dumpy (or his successor) can't pardon for state crimes.