Trials of Paul Manafort

Plea agreement by Paul Manafort providing full cooperation with the Special Counsel

The two criminal trials of Paul Manafort were the first cases brought to trial by the special counsel's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. Manafort served as campaign chair for the Donald Trump 2016 presidential campaign from June 20 to August 19, 2016.[1][2] In July 2017, the FBI conducted a raid of Manafort's home, authorized by search warrant under charges of interference in the 2016 election.[3][4] Manafort and his business assistant Rick Gates were both indicted and arrested in October 2017 for charges of conspiracy against the United States, making false statements, money laundering, and failing to register as foreign agents for Ukraine. Gates entered a plea bargain in February 2018.[5][6]

Manafort's first trial on 18 criminal counts began on July 31, 2018. In that trial, Gates testified that he committed tax evasion and embezzlement crimes with Manafort.[7] Under cross examination, Gates also admitted to an extramarital relationship funded with money embezzled from Manafort.[8] Manafort was found guilty on eight counts (covering filing false tax returns, bank fraud, and failing to disclose a foreign bank account), but a mistrial was declared on the remaining ten counts due to a single juror harboring reasonable doubts.[9]

Weeks later, before a second trial on seven separate criminal counts could begin, Manafort reached a plea bargain on two of those counts (conspiracy to defraud the United States and witness tampering).[10][11][12] As part of the agreement, he also admitted guilt to an additional seven counts left unresolved from the earlier mistrial (bank fraud and bank fraud conspiracy), forfeited several properties and accounts, and agreed to full cooperation with the prosecution.[13][14]

  1. ^ McCaskill, Nolan (August 19, 2016). "Paul Manafort resigns from Trump campaign". Politico. Retrieved August 19, 2016.
  2. ^ Flitter, Emily; Stephenson, Emily (June 21, 2016). "Trump fires campaign manager in shakeup for election push". Reuters. Retrieved August 2, 2016.
  3. ^ Leonnig, Carol D.; Hamburger, Tom; Helderman, Rosalind S. "FBI conducted raid of former Trump campaign chairman Manafort's home". The Washington Post. Retrieved June 29, 2018.
  4. ^ Diaz, Daniella; Perez, Evan (August 10, 2017). "FBI raided Manafort home as part of Russia probe". CNN. Retrieved August 10, 2017.
  5. ^ Mazzetti, Mark; Haberman, Maggie (February 23, 2018). "Rick Gates, Trump Campaign Aide, Pleads Guilty in Mueller Inquiry and Will Cooperate". The New York Times. Retrieved February 24, 2018.
  6. ^ Barrett, Devlin; Hsu, Spencer S. (February 23, 2018). "Former Trump campaign official Rick Gates pleads guilty to 2 charges". The Washington Post. Retrieved February 24, 2018.
  7. ^ Day, Chad (August 9, 2018). "Gates admits crimes with - and embezzlement from - Manafort". Associated Press. Retrieved August 15, 2018.
  8. ^ "Rick Gates, testifying in Manafort trial, admits to affair, London apartment". NBC News. August 7, 2018. Retrieved August 15, 2018.
  9. ^ Zapotosky, Matt (August 23, 2018). "Lone holdout on Manafort jury blocked conviction on all 18 counts, juror says". The Washington Post. Retrieved August 23, 2018.
  10. ^ "Paul Manafort has agreed to cooperate with Robert Mueller". Vox. September 14, 2018. Retrieved September 14, 2018.
  11. ^ "Manafort will cooperate with Mueller as part of guilty plea, prosecutor says". The Washington Post. Retrieved September 14, 2018.
  12. ^ March, Mary Tyler (September 14, 2018). "READ: Manafort's cooperation agreement with Mueller". The Hill. Retrieved September 14, 2018.
  13. ^ "Manafort forfeits $22 million in New York real estate in plea deal". NBC News. September 15, 2018. Retrieved September 16, 2018.
  14. ^ Cite error: The named reference Katelyn was invoked but never defined (see the help page).