Paul Manafort

Paul Manafort
Manafort at the 2016 Republican National Convention
Born
Paul John Manafort Jr.

(1949-04-01) April 1, 1949 (age 75)
New Britain, Connecticut, U.S.
Alma materGeorgetown University (BS, JD)
Political partyRepublican
Spouse
Kathleen Bond
​
(m. 1978)​
Children2
Criminal information
Criminal statusPardoned
Conviction(s)Conspiracy against the United States, conspiracy to obstruct justice
Criminal penalty7+1⁄2 years in prison

Paul John Manafort Jr. (/ˈmænəfɔːrt/; born April 1, 1949) is an American former lobbyist, political consultant, and attorney. A long-time Republican Party campaign consultant, he chaired the Trump presidential campaign from June to August 2016. Manafort served as an adviser to the U.S. presidential campaigns of Republicans Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, and Bob Dole. In 1980, he co-founded the Washington, D.C.–based lobbying firm Black, Manafort & Stone, along with principals Charles R. Black Jr. and Roger Stone,[1][2][3] joined by Peter G. Kelly in 1984.[4] Manafort often lobbied on behalf of foreign leaders such as former President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych, former dictator of the Philippines Ferdinand Marcos, former dictator of Zaire Mobutu Sese Seko, and Angolan guerrilla leader Jonas Savimbi.[5][6][7] Lobbying to serve the interests of foreign governments requires registration with the Justice Department under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA); on June 27, 2017, he retroactively registered as a foreign agent.[8][9][10][11]

On October 27, 2017, Manafort and his business associate Rick Gates were indicted in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on multiple charges arising from his consulting work for the pro-Russian government of Viktor Yanukovych in Ukraine before Yanukovych's overthrow in 2014.[12] The indictment came at the request of Robert Mueller's Special Counsel investigation.[13][14] In June 2018, additional charges were filed against Manafort for obstruction of justice and witness tampering that are alleged to have occurred while he was under house arrest,[15] and he was ordered to jail.[16]

Manafort was prosecuted in two federal courts. In August 2018, he stood trial in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia and was convicted on eight charges of tax and bank fraud. Manafort was next prosecuted on ten other charges, but this effort ended in a mistrial with Manafort later admitting his guilt.[17][18][19] In the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, Manafort pled guilty to two charges of conspiracy to defraud the United States and witness tampering,[20] while agreeing to cooperate with prosecutors.

On November 26, 2018, Mueller reported that Manafort violated his plea deal by repeatedly lying to investigators. On February 13, 2019, D.C. District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson concurred, voiding the plea deal.[21][22][23] On March 7, 2019, Judge T. S. Ellis III sentenced Manafort to 47 months in prison.[24][25][26] On March 13, 2019, Jackson sentenced Manafort to an additional 43 months in prison.[27][28][29] Minutes after his sentencing, New York state prosecutors charged Manafort with sixteen state felonies.[30] On December 18, 2019, the state charges against him were dismissed because of the doctrine of double jeopardy.[31][32][33] The Republican-controlled Senate Intelligence Committee concluded in August 2020 that Manafort's ties to individuals connected to Russian intelligence while he was Trump's campaign manager "represented a grave counterintelligence threat" by creating opportunities for "Russian intelligence services to exert influence over, and acquire confidential information on, the Trump campaign."[34]

On May 13, 2020, Manafort was released to home confinement due to the threat of COVID-19.[35] On December 23, 2020, U.S. President Donald Trump pardoned Manafort.[36][37][38]

In mid-March 2024, Manafort re-emerged on the political scene, with reports of him potentially joining the Trump 2024 campaign.[39][40][41]

  1. ^ Edsall, Thomas B. (May 14, 2012). "The Lobbyist in the Gray Flannel Suit". Opinion. The New York Times. Archived from the original on August 1, 2017. Retrieved June 16, 2017.
  2. ^ "A Political Power Broker". The New York Times. June 21, 1989. p. A19. Archived from the original on December 9, 2020. Retrieved June 16, 2017.
  3. ^ "Registration with the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA)" (PDF). United States Department of Justice. August 1982. Archived (PDF) from the original on June 15, 2018. Retrieved June 16, 2017.
  4. ^ Choate, Pat (1990). Agents of Influence. Simon and Schuster. pp. 307. ISBN 0671743392.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference Mufson-WP was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Stone, Peter (April 27, 2016). "Trump's new right-hand man has history of controversial clients and deals". The Guardian. Archived from the original on November 8, 2020. Retrieved July 24, 2016.
  7. ^ Lake, Eli (April 13, 2016). "Trump Just Hired His Next Scandal". Opinion. Bloomberg. Archived from the original on November 11, 2020. Retrieved July 24, 2016.
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference Gurman was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ "Exclusive: DoJ won't say if Sessions is recused on Manafort". MSNBC. May 11, 2017. Archived from the original on February 11, 2021. Retrieved May 13, 2017.
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference :3 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference hamburger was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  12. ^ Savage, Charlie (October 30, 2017). "What It Means: The Indictment of Manafort and Gates". The New York Times. Archived from the original on December 3, 2020. Retrieved October 30, 2017.
  13. ^ Apuzzo, Matt (October 30, 2017). "Paul Manafort, Who Once Ran Trump Campaign, Surrenders to F.B.I.". The New York Times. Archived from the original on October 30, 2017. Retrieved October 30, 2017.
  14. ^ Cite error: The named reference IndictmentText was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  15. ^ "Manafort placed under house arrest; weight of evidence cited". MSNBC. March 13, 2018. Archived from the original on November 9, 2020. Retrieved March 26, 2018.
  16. ^ LaFraniere, Sharon (June 15, 2018). "Judge Orders Manafort Jailed Before Trial, Citing New Obstruction Charges". The New York Times. Archived from the original on November 19, 2020. Retrieved June 15, 2018.
  17. ^ Polantz, Katelyn (September 14, 2018). "Paul Manafort pleads guilty and agrees to cooperate with Mueller investigation". CNN. Archived from the original on February 15, 2021. Retrieved March 8, 2019.
  18. ^ Cite error: The named reference guilty was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  19. ^ Haag, Matthew; LaFraniere, Sharon (August 23, 2018). "Manafort Jury Holdout Blocked Guilty Verdicts on 10 of 18 Charges, Juror Says". The New York Times. Archived from the original on November 12, 2020. Retrieved August 23, 2018.
  20. ^ Matthews, Dylan (March 13, 2019). "Why Paul Manafort pleaded guilty to "conspiracy against the United States"". Vox. Archived from the original on November 11, 2020. Retrieved March 14, 2019.
  21. ^ Zurcher, Anthony (September 14, 2018). "Winners and losers from the Manafort plea deal". BBC News. Archived from the original on November 9, 2020. Retrieved September 15, 2018.
  22. ^ LaFraniere, Sharon (November 26, 2018). "Manafort Breached Plea Deal by Repeatedly Lying, Mueller Says". The New York Times. Archived from the original on November 27, 2018. Retrieved November 27, 2018.
  23. ^ Hsu, Spencer S. (February 13, 2019). "Federal judge finds Paul Manafort lied to Mueller probe about contacts with Russian aide". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on December 10, 2020. Retrieved February 13, 2019.
  24. ^ "Paul Manafort sentenced to less than 4 years in prison after judge praises 'otherwise blameless life'". NBC News. March 7, 2019. Archived from the original on November 24, 2020. Retrieved March 8, 2019.
  25. ^ Samuelsohn, Darren (February 21, 2019). "Manafort's Virginia sentencing set for March 8". POLITICO. Archived from the original on February 21, 2021. Retrieved February 21, 2019.
  26. ^ Samuelsohn, Darren (February 4, 2019). "Manafort's D.C. sentencing delayed to March 13". Politico. Archived from the original on February 21, 2021. Retrieved February 21, 2019.
  27. ^ LaFraniere, Sharon (March 13, 2019). "Paul Manafort's Prison Sentence Is Nearly Doubled to 7½ Years". The New York Times. Archived from the original on December 3, 2020. Retrieved October 27, 2019.
  28. ^ Hymes, Clare; Portnoy, Steven (March 13, 2019). "Paul Manafort to serve over 7 years in prison". CBS News. Archived from the original on November 26, 2020. Retrieved March 14, 2019. Jackson sentenced Manafort to 73 months ... Jackson imposed a 30-month overlap with the Virginia sentence
  29. ^ Breuninger, Kevin (March 13, 2019). "Paul Manafort gets additional 43 months in second Mueller sentence after ex-Trump campaign boss says he's 'sorry'". CNBC. Archived from the original on November 8, 2020. Retrieved March 14, 2019. Paul Manafort, to 43 months of additional prison time
  30. ^ Rashbaum, William K. (March 13, 2019). "New York Charges Manafort With 16 Crimes. If He's Convicted, Trump Can't Pardon Him". The New York Times. Archived from the original on December 11, 2020. Retrieved March 13, 2019.
  31. ^ "Paul Manafort's fraud case in New York was dismissed, blocking local prosecutors' effort to undercut a potential Trump pardon". The Washington Post. December 18, 2019. Archived from the original on October 10, 2020. Retrieved February 6, 2020.
  32. ^ Ransom, Jan (December 18, 2019). "State Charges Against Manafort Dismissed by Judge in New York". The New York Times. Archived from the original on November 21, 2020. Retrieved May 13, 2020.
  33. ^ Winter, Tom (December 18, 2019). "New York judge tosses state fraud case against Manafort". NBC News. Archived from the original on November 22, 2020. Retrieved February 9, 2021.
  34. ^ Phillips, Kristine (August 18, 2020). "Paul Manafort was 'a grave counterintelligence threat,' Republican-led Senate panel finds". USA Today. Archived from the original on January 26, 2021. Retrieved December 24, 2020.
  35. ^ Justine Coleman (May 13, 2020). "Manafort released to home confinement due to coronavirus concerns". The Hill. Archived from the original on January 21, 2021. Retrieved May 20, 2020.
  36. ^ Haberman, Maggie; Schmidt, Michael S. (December 23, 2020). "Trump Gives Clemency to More Allies, Including Manafort, Stone and Charles Kushner". The New York Times. Archived from the original on December 24, 2020. Retrieved February 9, 2021.
  37. ^ Rubin, Olivia; Bruggeman, Lucien; Faulders, Katherine; Santucci, John (December 23, 2020). "Paul Manafort, Roger Stone, Charles Kushner among those pardoned by Trump". ABC News. Archived from the original on February 13, 2021. Retrieved February 9, 2021.
  38. ^ Brown, Pamela; LeBlanc, Paul; Polantz, Katelyn; Liptak, Kevin (December 23, 2020). "Trump issues 26 new pardons, including for Stone, Manafort and Charles Kushner". CNN. Archived from the original on February 18, 2021. Retrieved February 9, 2021.
  39. ^ Dawsey, Josh (March 18, 2024). "Trump may enlist Paul Manafort, who was criticized for Russia ties". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved March 19, 2024.
  40. ^ Bort, Ryan (March 18, 2024). "Trump Wants to Bring Felon He Pardoned Onto His Campaign: Report". Rolling Stone. Retrieved March 19, 2024.
  41. ^ Corn, David. "Trump considers adding Paul Manafort—a "grave counterintelligence threat"—to his campaign". Mother Jones. Retrieved March 19, 2024.