OAN Newsroom
UPDATED 11:16 AM PT — Thursday, April 4, 2019
After a grueling two-year legal battle, the special counsel has shown they are interested in much more than Paul Manafort’s financial crimes. They’re going after his integrity.
The former Trump campaign chairman was recently sentenced to a total of 73-months.
“Paul Manafort caught a break because he defied the law, he tampered with witnesses, he lied to prosecutors, he laundered money, evaded taxes,” said Senator Richard Blumenthal.
Based on provided evidence from the Mueller investigation, U.S. District Judge Amy Jackson also ruled that Manafort lied about his interactions with a Russian intelligence officer.
Manafort’s attorneys are now asking the judge to reconsider her ruling, claiming their client told the truth to the “best of his ability.” They submitted a filing to the court on Wednesday, which they say proves their client did not intentionally lie.
Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort. (Photo/Matt Rourke/AP)
“I feel very badly for Paul Manafort, and, you know, he worked for Ronald Reagan very successfully. He worked for John McCain. He worked for Bob Dole and many others for many years, and I feel badly for him. I think it’s a very sad situation.” — President Donald Trump
Slashing the hopes of a presidential pardon, Judge Jackson dismissed the request and is content with the current evidence. She said Mueller was sufficient in proving “one of several instances in which Manafort gave false testimony.”
While the allegations were not formally pursued, questions have continued to swirl about Manafort’s role of a potential conspiracy and his business with the founder of WikiLeaks.
Manafort issued a response from his Virginia jail cell, condemning The Guardian for publishing a false story and denying any involvement with the website that notoriously released thousands of Democrat Party emails in 2016.
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