Paul Manafort

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Paul Manafort
Manafort speaks with media prior to the 2016 Republican National Convention.
Born
Paul John Manafort Jr.

(1949-04-01) April 1, 1949 (age 74)
EducationGeorgetown University (BS, JD)
Political partyRepublican
Criminal statusFound guilty on 8 counts; pleaded guilty to counts of conspiracy; scheduled to be sentenced on February 8, 2019 or March 5, 2019[1][2]
Spouse
Kathleen Bond (m. 1978)
Children2
Criminal chargeFive counts of tax fraud, two counts of bank fraud, and one count of failing to disclose a hidden foreign bank account; two counts of conspiracy

Paul John Manafort Jr. (born April 1, 1949)[3] is an American lobbyist, political consultant, lawyer and convicted felon. He joined Donald Trump's presidential campaign team in March 2016 and served as campaign manager from June to August 2016. He was an adviser to the U.S. presidential campaigns of Republicans Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, and Bob Dole.

On August 22, 2018, Manafort was convicted of bank and tax fraud.[4]

In 1980, Manafort co-founded the Washington, D.C.-based lobbying firm Black, Manafort & Stone, along with principals Charles R. Black Jr., and Roger Stone.[5][6][7]

FBI Investigation[change | change source]

Manafort is under investigation by multiple federal agencies. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has reportedly had an active criminal investigation on him since 2014 regarding business dealings in Ukraine. He is also a person of interest in the FBI counterintelligence probe looking into the Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections led by Robert Mueller.[8][9]

Arrest[change | change source]

Paul Manafort greeting Gerald Ford
Manafort with Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush

On October 30, 2017, Manafort surrendered to the FBI after news broke that a federal grand jury had indicted him.[10] They charged Manafort with conspiracy against the United States, conspiracy to launder money, failure to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts, being an unregistered agent of foreign principal, false and misleading FARA statements, and false statements.[11]

On June 15, 2018, Manafort's bail was revoked and he was sent to jail due to charges of obstruction of justice and witness tampering that is alleged to have occurred while he was under house arrest. He pled not guilty to these additional charges and as of June 2018 is currently awaiting trial.

Conviction[change | change source]

On Tuesday, August 21, 2018, Manafort was convicted of five counts of tax fraud, two counts of bank fraud and one count of failure to report foreign bank accounts. In total, the jury convicted Manafort on 8 of the 18 counts against him and said it was deadlocked on the other 10 counts (U.S. District Judge T. S. Ellis III declared a mistrial on those charges).[12][4]

References[change | change source]

  1. "Judge sets Paul Manafort sentencing for March 5 after plea agreement with Robert Mueller collapses". USA TODAY.
  2. "Manafort to Be Sentenced in February in Financial Fraud Case". Retrieved November 27, 2018.
  3. "Paul Manafort Biography – know everything about him". BiographyTree. September 27, 2016. Archived from the original on August 23, 2017. Retrieved August 22, 2017.
  4. 4.0 4.1 McCarthy, Tom; Jacobs, Ben (August 21, 2018). "Paul Manafort: Trump's ex-campaign chair guilty on eight counts of fraud". The Guardian. Retrieved August 22, 2018.
  5. Edsall, Thomas B. (May 14, 2012). "The Lobbyist in the Gray Flannel Suit". The New York Times Blog. The Opinion Page. Retrieved June 16, 2017.
  6. "A Political Power Broker". The New York Times. Washington. June 20, 1989. Retrieved June 16, 2017.
  7. "Registration with the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA)" (PDF). Department of Justice. August 1982. Retrieved June 16, 2017.
  8. LaFraniere, Sharon. "With a Picked Lock and a Threatened Indictment, Mueller's Inquiry Sets a Tone". The New York Times. Retrieved October 16, 2017.
  9. United States of America v. Paul J. Manafort Jr and Richard W. Gates III (October 27, 2017). Text
  10. Savage, Charlie (October 30, 2017). "What It Means: The Indictment of Manafort and Gates". The New York Times. Retrieved 30 October 2017.
  11. Apuzzo, Matt (30 October 2017). "Paul Manafort, Who Once Ran Trump Campaign, Surrenders to F.B.I." The New York Times. Retrieved 30 October 2017.
  12. Zapotosky, Matt; Bui, Lynh; Jackman, Tom; Barrett, Devlin (August 21, 2018). "Manafort convicted on 8 counts; mistrial declared on 10 others". Washington Post. Retrieved 2018-08-21.

Other websites[change | change source]