Paul Manafort, President Donald Trump‘s former campaign chairman, was found guilty Tuesday on eight of 18 counts in his federal trial over fraud charges, The New York Times reports.
The judge declared a mistrial on the other 10 charges, which the jury in Alexandria, Virginia could not reach a unanimous verdict.
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The case involved Manafort’s political consulting business and work he did on behalf of a pro-Russian government in Ukraine. Shortly after the verdicts were announced, Trump told reporters, “I feel badly for Paul Manafort” and called him “a good man.”
He also asserted that Manafort’s convictions were unconnected to his work for the Trump presidential campaign in 2016.
The charges against him in his federal trial had to do largely with his consulting practice, including his work for Viktor Yanukovych, the leader of Ukraine who was overthrown in 2014. His associate, Rick Gates, pleaded guilty in February to two charges conspiracy and lying to federal investigators, and served as the government’s star witness in Manafort’s trial.
The case was the first trial of charges brought by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who is investigating Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, and whether there was coordination or collusion by the Trump campaign.
While speaking with reporters before a rally in Charleston, West Virginia Tuesday night, Trump repeated that Manafort’s conviction “has nothing to do with Russian collusion. It’s a witch hunt. It’s a disgrace.”
Manafort was found guilty on five tax fraud charges, two counts of bank fraud and one charge of hiding foreign bank accounts. He faces a trial next month in Washington on charges of failing to register as a foreign agent.
His attorney told reporters that Manafort was “evaluating all of his options at this point.”
Manafort served as Trump’s campaign chairman during the remaining weeks of the presidential primaries and during the summer Republican National Convention.
It was a long day for President Trump, as the verdict came just as his former attorney, Michael Cohen, entered a guilty plea on multiple charges, including tax evasion and campaign finance violations, in federal court.
Of those unlawful contributions, Cohen said he made them at Trump’s behest. He also claimed that he was reimbursed with campaign cash to pay hush money to adult film star Stormy Daniels.
Massachusetts Democratic senator and possible 2020 presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren said the Trump era “has given us the most nakedly corrupt leadership this nation has seen in our lifetimes.”
