By Steve Neavling
Ticklethewire.com
Just two years ago, Paul Manafort was lavishly dressed, owned six luxury homes and was leading the improbable presidential campaign for Donald Trump.
Today, the 69-year-old’s life is reduced to a jail cell, prison garb and anxiety about whether he’ll spend the rest of his life behind bars.
His fate is in the hands of a jury today as they determine whether one of the GOP’s most successful, if shady, operatives is guilty of bank and tax fraud in order to sustain an extravagant, excessive lifestyle.
In closing arguments Wednesday, prosecutors argued they presented plenty of evidence that Manafort concealed millions of dollars in foreign banks accounts to dodge tax penalties from money he made working for a Ukrainian political party and that he lied about his income to receive tens of millions of dollars in loans that he otherwise wasn’t eligible for.
His defense team blamed the people who testified against him and admitted they violated the law. That includes his longtime business partner and former Trump campaign aide Rick Gates, who testified against Manafort as part of a plea deal with prosecutors.
The jury’s decision in the first trial brought forward by special counsel Robert Mueller carries a lot of wieght for special counsel Robert Mueller and President Trump, who has long complained that the investigation is a “witch hunt” designed to force him out of office.
Whatever the case, Manafort faces a second trial in several months on money laundering charges.
Check back for updates.
