Paul Manafort’s life just got a whole lot worse.
After a judge sentenced him to an additional 43 months in federal prison Wednesday afternoon, a grand jury in Manhattan then issued an indictment against Manafort on a litany of charges for whichTrump cannot pardon himhatt.
The 16 counts Manafort is now charged with in New York state include:
- Three counts of residential mortgage fraud in the first degree;
- One count of attempted residential mortgage fraud in the first degree;
- Three counts of conspiracy in the fourth degree;
- Eight counts of falsifying business records in the first degree; and
- And one count of scheming to defraud in the first degree.
Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance said the charges stem from an investigation his office opened against Manafort in March 2017. In a news release, Vance said Manafort’s offenses “strike at the heart of New York’s sovereign interests, including the integrity of our residential mortgage market.”
“No one is beyond the law in New York,” Vance said.
Should Manafort be convicted of the charges filed against him, he would not be eligible for a pardon from Trump, who can only pardon those charged with federal crimes.
That means Trump — who has yet to rule out a pardon for his former campaign chairman — could not save Manafort from punishment for these crimes, should he be found guilty.
Published with permission of The American Independent.
