Trump pardoned Manafort and the father of his own son-in-law: how did the USA react to this

US President Donald Trump pardoned Paul Manafort, the former head of his campaign headquarters, who was a political strategist for Viktor Yanukovych and the Party of Regions. Paul Manafort was one of 26 people whose pardon Trump announced on the evening of December 23, writes Voice of America.

Photo: Shutterstock

In 2018, Paul Manafort was sentenced to 7,5 years in prison for financial fraud and conspiracy to cover up his crimes.

The White House said Manafort's conviction was based on a "Russian interference scam."

“Mr. Manafort spent two years in prison, including solitary confinement, where treatment was worse than many of the most violent criminals. As a result of blatant prosecutorial overreach, Mr. Manafort has endured years of dishonesty and is one of the most prominent victims of what has turned out to be perhaps the greatest witch hunt in American history,” the White House said in a statement.

On the subject: Trump pardons convicts in the case of Russian interference in the US elections

After serving two years in prison in May 2020, Paul Manafort was placed under house arrest in connection with the pandemic. Now he has become a free citizen. However, a presidential pardon does not negate his criminal record, according to an explanation of the procedure at the US Department of Justice.

At the same time, the office of the Manhattan attorney, who tried to bring Manafort to justice in New York for possible fraud, said that they would continue to pursue the case, which was previously dismissed. This was based on the fact that Manafort was already under investigation for the same charges.

“This action underscores the urgent need to hold Mr. Manafort accountable for his crimes against the people of New York, as alleged in our indictment. And we will continue to pursue appeals,” a spokesman for the prosecutor’s office said.

Paul Manafort has already responded to the pardon. On his Twitter after a four-year break (the date of the last message there was December 19, 2016), the political strategist wrote:

“Mr. President, my family and I humbly thank you for the presidential pardon you have granted me. Words cannot fully describe how grateful we are. History will record that during your four-year presidency you accomplished more than any of your modern predecessors.”

Representatives of the Democratic and Republican parties responded to Paul Manafort's pardon. Republican Senator Ben Sasse issued a brief statement: “This is rotten to the core,” calling Paul Manafort a criminal who has blatantly and repeatedly violated American law.

Democratic Congressman Adam Schiff tweeted: "Manafort refused to cooperate with prosecutors, lied, was convicted, and then Trump praised him for not snitching." Trump's pardon has now ended the corruption scheme. Lawless to the very end."

The media community also reacted to Paul Manafort's pardon. BuzzFeed journalist Chris Miller wrote: “A sad day for Ukrainians, especially those who gave their lives to unseat Viktor Yanukovych, the brutal, authoritarian thief whom Manafort mentored and advised. Many in Ukraine regarded his sentence as a consequence of the brutality on the Maidan that came close to justice.”

Former White House press secretary Ari Fleischer, who worked with George W. Bush, wrote that Manafort was the last person who should have been pardoned.

“He cheated on his taxes. He does not deserve a pardon,” Fleischer concluded.

Photo: twitter.com/AriFleischer

Among those whom Trump pardoned on December 23 is Roger Stone, a former adviser to Donald Trump who also appeared in special counsel Mueller's investigation. And also the father of Jared Kushner, husband of Ivanka and son-in-law of Donald Trump.

Charles Kushner was prosecuted by New Jersey Attorney Chris Christie in the early 2000s for tax evasion, influencing witnesses and illegal campaign donations. CNN.

In the end, he pleaded guilty to 16 counts of tax evasion, one count of influencing a federal witness (his brother-in-law), and one count of lying to the Federal Election Commission.

You may be interested in: top New York news, stories of our immigrants and helpful tips about life in the Big Apple - read it all on ForumDaily New York

In early 2019, Christie said that Charles Kushner committed "one of the most heinous crimes," referring to the elaborate revenge conspiracy that the elder Kushner hatched in 2003 to assassinate his son-in-law, William Schulder.

Kushner hired a prostitute to lure Schulder into having sex in a motel room in Bridgewater, New Jersey while a hidden camera was working there. The recording of the meeting was then sent to Kushner's sister and Schulder's wife, Esther. Ultimately, the intimidation stunt failed. The Schulders handed the video to prosecutors, who tracked down the woman and threatened her with arrest. She immediately pointed to Kushner.

As ForumDaily wrote earlier:

• In 2017, US Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller, who was investigating Russia's alleged influence on the elections, brought charges against Manafort that were not related to his participation in the election campaign, but related to the period of his work in the interests of the Ukrainian government, the Party of Regions and President Viktor Yanukovych.
• Manafort reported that his consulting firm for two years received over $ 17 million from a Ukrainian political party with ties to the Kremlin. He admitted that he was doing work in the United States on behalf of a foreign power represented by the Ukrainian Party of Regions. The party was the political base of former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, who fled to Russia in 2014. The investigation believes that then Manafort laundered more than $ 30 million.
• ForumDaily also wrote on what exactly Manafort spent millions of laundered dollars.
• Trump and his closest aides have repeatedly denied all accusations of any improper contact with Russian officials during the 2016 election campaign. Moscow also many times called groundless allegations of Russian attempts to influence the course of the US presidential election.
• In summer 2018, jury found Manafort guilty of hiding bank accounts, tax evasion - court sent him to jail.
• Manafort made a deal with the investigationby agreeing to pay $ 22 million and partner with Mueller. However, in December 2018, the special prosecutor said that Manafort had lied about his ties to the Trump administration and the payments he received.
• Federal judge in Virginia in early March 2019 sentenced Manafort to 47 months imprisonment for fraud with banks and taxpayers for millions of dollars. Then Manafort received less than 4 years in prison instead of threatening 19.
• On March 13, 2019, the court added 43 months of imprisonment to the sentence - the total term made up 7,5 of the year.

Read also on ForumDaily:

Former Trump Advisor Accused Of Border Wall Money Fraud

Senate report: Trump aide collaborated with Russian intelligence in 2016 elections

Russians involved in Trump's conspiracy case with Russia: who they are and what their role is

New York company paid $ 11 million to resolve the conflict in Ukraine

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