Manafort split verdict says nothing on Trump, Russia, and the 2016 election

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What does the Paul Manafort divided verdict — guilty on 8 fraud charges with a mistrial declared on the remaining 10 charges — mean for the question of whether the Trump campaign conspired with Russia to fix the 2016 election?

Nothing.

Of course, everyone knew that going into the trial.

Special counsel Robert Mueller was assigned to investigate “any links and/or coordination between the Russian government and individuals associated with the campaign of President Donald Trump.” Mueller’s authority also covered “any matters that arose or may arise directly from the investigation,” plus any issues that might involve obstruction of the investigation. Prosecutors said before the trial that they would not mention the word “Russia” at all during the proceedings, and that was pretty much the case. They also barely mentioned the name Trump, although it came up briefly in the charges that Manafort gave a Chicago banker a spot on a Trump campaign advisory board in exchange for approving an iffy loan.

Mueller did not allege any links and/or coordination between the Russian government and individuals associated with the Trump campaign, and none were revealed at the trial. – READ MORE

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Paul Manafort faces a maximum of 80 years in prison for his conviction Tuesday on eight charges of bank and tax fraud.

President Trump’s onetime campaign chairman was found guilty on five counts of filing false income tax returns, one count of failing to report foreign bank and financial accounts, and two counts of bank fraud.

Manafort faces a maximum of 15 years in prison for the tax fraud charges, a maximum of five years for the one charge of failing to report a foreign bank or financial account, and up to 60 years for the two bank fraud charges, which each carry a maximum sentence of up to 30 years.

Federal prosecutors said in a February court filing, however, that Manafort will likely only get eight to 10 years for the tax fraud charges, based on the federal sentencing guidelines, which are advisory. – READ MORE

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