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Manafort Steps Up Challenge to Mueller Indictment

March 28, 2018 at 7:56 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Paul Manafort asked a federal court “to toss out 18 criminal charges against him in Virginia, sharpening his challenge to the legitimacy of special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into alleged Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election,” the Washington Post reports.

“The pretrial motions to dismiss an indictment intensified a legal attack mounted by Manafort in a lawsuit in January. In that lawsuit, Manafort contends Mueller has exceeded his legal authority and is asking to void the Justice Department’s appointment of him.”

Filed Under: 2016 Campaign Tagged With: Paul Manafort

Manafort Again Challenges Mueller’s Appointment

March 15, 2018 at 5:16 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Paul Manafort “asked a judge to dismiss the criminal case filed against him in federal court in Washington, DC, arguing that special counsel Robert Mueller’s appointment was invalid and that Mueller had exceeded the scope of his authority,” BuzzFeed News reports.

“This is the second time that Manafort has attempted to challenge the lawfulness of Mueller’s appointment last year as special counsel as well as the reach of the special counsel’s investigation. Manafort is separately pursuing a civil lawsuit that raises the same arguments.”

Filed Under: White House Tagged With: Paul Manafort

Judge Says Case Against Manafort Is Strong

March 13, 2018 at 1:02 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

A federal just said that Paul Manafort “runs a significant risk of spending the rest of his life in prison and the evidence against him by special counsel Robert Mueller’s office seems strong,” Politico reports.

Said U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis: “Given the nature of the charges against the defendant and the apparent weight of the evidence against him, defendant faces the very real possibility of spending the rest of his life in prison.”

Filed Under: White House Tagged With: Paul Manafort

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Manafort Now Wears Two Monitoring Bracelets

March 9, 2018 at 7:12 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Paul Manafort will stay under home confinement after pleading not guilty Thursday to the latest set of charges filed by special counsel Robert Mueller’s office, but now he’ll wear two GPS monitoring bracelets, instead of just one,” BuzzFeed News reports.

“He made his first appearance in the Alexandria courthouse on Thursday afternoon. US District Judge T.S. Ellis III ruled Manafort could be released pending trial, subject to home confinement and electronic monitoring, the same conditions he’s under in DC. A Virginia probation officer explained to the judge that because of limits to the technology, she couldn’t access the data from the DC bracelet, hence the need for two.”

Filed Under: Political Consultants Tagged With: Paul Manafort

Judge Sets Manafort Trial Date for September

February 28, 2018 at 10:41 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“A judge in Washington on Wednesday set a September 17 trial date for former Trump campaign chief Paul Manafort on charges from special counsel Robert Mueller, including money laundering and failing to register as a foreign agent,” Politico reports.

“The decision from U.S. District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson would put Manafort on trial at the height of the midterm campaign season, a potentially unwelcome distraction for Republicans as they try to maintain majorities in Congress.”

Filed Under: 2016 Campaign Tagged With: Paul Manafort

Manafort Left a Digital Trail of His Crimes

February 25, 2018 at 11:54 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Ars Technica explains how evidence of Paul Manafort’s fraud was exposed because he didn’t know how to edit a PDF file — so he emailed Rick Gates to do it.

“By sending these documents back and forth by email, Manafort and Gates made it easy for prosecutors to pinpoint exactly who changed the documents and when.”

Filed Under: Political Consultants Tagged With: Paul Manafort

New Charges Filed Against Manafort

February 23, 2018 at 4:54 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Special counsel Robert Mueller filed new charges accusing Paul Manafort of secretly paying former European politicians to lobby on behalf of Ukraine, the AP reports.

The indictment followed a guilty plea by Manafort’s longtime business associate, Rick Gates.

Filed Under: 2016 Campaign Tagged With: Paul Manafort

32 New Charges Filed Against Manafort and Gates

February 22, 2018 at 4:36 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“New charges were filed Thursday against former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and his business partner, ratcheting up the legal pressure on them as they prepare for a trial later this year,” the Washington Post reports.

“A new indictment has long been expected in special counsel Robert Mueller’s prosecution of Manafort and his right-hand man, Rick Gates, on fraud and money laundering charges. Manafort served as President Trump’s campaign chairman from June to August 2016. Gates also served as a top official on Trump’s campaign. The new indictment contains 32 counts, including tax charges.”

Meanwhile, the Daily Beast reports that Gates fired his lawyer and, contrary to recent media reports, he is not about to make a deal with Mueller.

Filed Under: White House Tagged With: Paul Manafort, Rick Gates

Mueller Investigating Manafort’s Home Loans

February 21, 2018 at 12:33 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Federal investigators are probing whether former Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort promised a Chicago banker a job in the Trump White House in return for $16 million in home loans,” two people with direct knowledge of the matter told NBC News.

“Manafort received three separate loans in December 2016 and January 2017 from Federal Savings Bank for homes in New York City and the Hamptons… The sources say the three loans were questioned by other officials at the bank.”

Filed Under: Political Consultants Tagged With: Paul Manafort

New Charges Filed In Manafort-Gates Case

February 21, 2018 at 12:15 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“New charges have been filed in special counsel Robert Mueller’s criminal case against former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and aide Rick Gates, but the charges were put under seal by the court, obscuring the nature and import of the development,” Politico reports.

Filed Under: White House Tagged With: Paul Manafort, Rick Gates

Manafort Under Scrutiny for $40 Million in Transactions

February 20, 2018 at 7:29 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Federal law enforcement officials have identified more than $40 million in ‘suspicious’ financial transactions to and from companies controlled by President Donald Trump’s former campaign manager Paul Manafort — a much larger sum than was cited in his October indictment on money laundering charges,” BuzzFeed News reports.

“The vast web of transactions was unraveled mainly in 2014 and 2015 during an FBI operation to fight international kleptocracy that ultimately fizzled. The story of that failed effort — and its resurrection by special counsel Robert Mueller as he investigated whether the Trump campaign colluded with Russia to interfere with the 2016 election — has never been fully told.”

Filed Under: Political Consultants Tagged With: Paul Manafort

Gates Will Now Testify Against Manafort

February 18, 2018 at 4:33 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Rick Gates “will plead guilty to fraud-related charges within days – and has made clear to prosecutors that he would testify against Paul Manafort,” the Los Angeles Times reports.

According to a person familiar with those talks, Gates, a longtime political consultant, can expect “a substantial reduction in his sentence” if he fully cooperates with the investigation. He said that Gates is apt to serve about 18 months in prison.

Filed Under: 2016 Campaign Tagged With: Paul Manafort, Rick Gates

Mueller Says Manafort Also Committed Bank Fraud

February 16, 2018 at 10:39 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Special counsel Robert Mueller’s office has told a federal judge it has found evidence that Paul Manafort, the former Trump campaign chairman, committed bank fraud not addressed by the indictment last October in which he was charged with money laundering and failure to register as a foreign agent,” Politico reports.

“As legal wrangling continues over a $10 million bail package for Manafort, prosecutors this week accused him of submitting false information to a bank in connection with one of his mortgages.”

Filed Under: White House Tagged With: Paul Manafort

The Plot Against America

January 28, 2018 at 8:20 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

The Atlantic has a must-read profile of former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort:

When Paul Manafort officially joined the Trump campaign, on March 28, 2016, he represented a danger not only to himself but to the political organization he would ultimately run. A lifetime of foreign adventures didn’t just contain scandalous stories, it evinced the character of a man who would very likely commandeer the campaign to serve his own interests, with little concern for the collective consequences.

Filed Under: Political Consultants Tagged With: Paul Manafort

Feds Had Informant Inside Manafort’s Firm

January 25, 2018 at 8:50 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“A document that former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort’s attorneys appear to have accidentally filed in court Wednesday suggests that federal investigators had an informant inside Manafort’s consulting firm who provided information about his financial dealings,” Politico reports.

Filed Under: 2016 Campaign Tagged With: Paul Manafort

Manafort’s Trial Not Likely Until September

January 16, 2018 at 2:02 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“The criminal trial of President Trump’s former campaign manager Paul Manafort appears likely to start in September at the earliest after a federal judge on Tuesday rejected a bid by special counsel Robert Mueller’s office to kick off the trial in May,” Politico reports.

Filed Under: Political Consultants Tagged With: Paul Manafort

Mueller Could Indict Paul Manafort Again

December 27, 2017 at 5:20 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Daily Beast: “A superseding indictment would essentially replace the current indictment of Manafort. And in that current indictment, Mueller’s team hinted there was more to come. In particular, they hinted at potential tax charges for Manafort’s foreign financial transactions. Federal prosecutors can bring charges against any American who has money in a foreign bank account and doesn’t check a box on their tax forms disclosing it. The Manafort/Gates indictment describes financial behavior that may be liable for that kind of prosecution. And that’s an indicator that Mueller’s team may be preparing to formally charge both men with violating tax laws.”

Filed Under: Political Consultants Tagged With: Paul Manafort

Mueller Tracked Manafort’s Microsoft Word Edits

December 9, 2017 at 10:08 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Associated Press: “Revealing that they know every word Manafort changed in a recently published op-ed, prosecutors for the special counsel argued Friday that the former Trump campaign chairman’s attempt to mount a public relations campaign to defend himself while under house arrest ‘raises serious concerns about his trustworthiness.'”

“Writing in Microsoft Word, Manafort changed several sections of the essay, going line-by-line for over 30 minutes on the night of Nov. 29, court papers show.”

“Each change was tracked in the document, which prosecutors later compared to talking points Manafort drafted last year to respond to news reports about his consulting work in Ukraine. They found they mirrored his edits, and appeared to show he had a ‘public relations campaign’ in mind to help his case.”

Filed Under: White House Tagged With: Paul Manafort

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About Political Wire

goddard-bw-snapshotTaegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.

Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.

Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.

Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.

Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.

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