It’s not a good day to be Paul Manafort.
Today, President Trump’s former campaign chairman learned that he will spend up to 7.5 years in federal prison. Evidently, D.C. federal court judge Amy Berman Jackson didn’t think that Manafort led an “otherwise blameless” life.
That’s not all. Within an hour of his sentencing, the Manhattan District Attorney indicted Manafort on 16 felony charges.
What does it all mean?
- The new indictment is in New York state, meaning the charges are not federal.
- The charges are “pardon proof,” meaning that, if Manafort is found guilty, Trump can’t simply pardon him.
- Trump is claiming that Manafort’s cases prove that there was “no collusion.” But Judge Jackson said today: “The ‘no collusion’ mantra is also not accurate, because the investigation is still ongoing.”
- Above all, this is even more proof that Trump willingly surrounded himself with openly corrupt associates like Manafort—whom Trump feels “very badly” for, according to his remarks to the press today.
The special counsel investigation has yielded 37 indictments, 7 guilty pleas, and nearly 200 criminal charges. Follow The Moscow Project for the latest breaking news and analysis on all things Trump-Russia.
EQUALITY NOW.
Right now in the U.S., LGBTQ people can still be at risk of being fired, denied credit, refused housing, and denied service because of who they are and who they love. This rampant discrimination can have serious (and unseen) consequences.
That’s why Democratic and Republican members of the House and Senate reintroduced the Equality Act, a key bill that would provide clear and comprehensive federal protections against discrimination for LGBTQ people.
To learn more about the Equality Act—and why it’s absolutely necessary—check out an explainer thread from CAP here.