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Manafort Gets Jail Time in First of Two Sentencing Hearings
Manafort received a relatively light sentence despite the prosecutions request for heavy punishment.
President Donald J. Trump’s former campaign chairman Paul Manafort was sentenced in federal court Thursday for financial crimes unrelated to his service on the Trump campaign.
According to CNBC, Manafort received a sentence of 47 months, just under four years, in prison. Prosecutors had argued for 19-24 years – significantly higher than what Judge T.S. Ellis ultimately decided upon.
The sentence includes time served, and Manafort expected to serve only 38 more months. He was also order to pay $50,000 fine, the minimum on this case, despite prosecutors recommendation of the maximum $24 million fine.
The pretext for the criminal investigation into Manafort’s finances was Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s Russian “collusion” investigation into the Trump campaign. As the probe wraps up, Mueller has found no such collusion, but has indicted several Trump associates for unrelated crimes or process crimes, like perjury.
“He has lived an otherwise blameless life,” Ellis said of Manafort.
“Manafort had been convicted in the Virginia court last summer on eight counts of bank fraud, tax fraud and failing to file a foreign bank account report. The charges mostly pertained to Manafort’s past work for Ukraine’s Russia-backed president at the time, Viktor Yanukovych,” the CNBC report said.
Manafort reportedly appeared for sentencing in a green jumpsuit and wheelchair. His recent health problems have been previously reported.
Next week, Manafort will be sentenced for convictions on foreign lobbying and witness tampering charges in a separate case in Washington, D.C.
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The special election for Texas’ Senate District 30 is on pace to be one of the most heated races in the Lone Star State.
At a candidate forum on September 18, 2020, Shelley Luther, the Dallas salon owner who was jailed for opening her business in defiance of Governor Greg Abbott’s shutdown order, confronted outgoing State Senator Pat Fallon.
Fallon vacated his seat and is now backing a successor in State Representative Drew Springer.
“We don’t want somebody who’s going to be at odds with our Republican governor,” Fallon said September 18 at the Grayson County Republican Women’s Club.
Fallon added:
I didn’t support some of the things that he has done about opening up. … So, he’s made some mistakes. He’s our Republican governor, the 80/20 rule … because you’re not going to get any bills passed unless the governor signs them.
“Let me make something clear. I am accountable to my fellow citizens in Senate District 30. Not our Governor,” Luther responded on September 19 on Facebook:
This is exactly what is wrong with Austin. Our politicians are more loyal to Abbott than us, even when they disagree with him.
I will work with Governor Abbott when he is fighting to protect the liberty of Texans, and I will oppose him when he pushes unilateral dictates that shut down our local businesses.
Fallon and Luther had a tense exchange, which was caught on video.
“You want me to go all in on this race?” Fallon questioned Luther. “I have been 5 percent in on this race. You want me to go all in on it, I’m welcome to.”
“This has become a straight-up fight between Abbott and the ‘Kumbaya’ Professional Political Class vs. the grassroots and people who remember what limited government and principles should look like,” opined conservative activist Mike Openshaw.
“Respectfully, being willing to be jailed for fighting over-reaching government shows principle; that counts for something, Patrick,” Openshaw continued.
Luther has recently received endorsements from conservative Collin County Judge Chris Hill and Young Conservatives of Texas. Springer, on the other hand, received an endorsement from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, which asserted that Luther was going down a “far right” path.
A Republican is expected to carry the senate district, which may still require a runoff if the leading candidate does not get enough votes during the first round of the special election.
Election Day will be on September 29.
Luther is viewed as the truly conservative option and many believe she could help break the political status quo in Austin that has kept conservative legislation from ever being passed.
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