Paul Manafort will appear in the Washington courtroom of Judge Amy Berman Jackson today for sentencing, less than a week after Judge TS Ellis III of Virginia caused uproar by handing him just 47 months in jail for financial crimes and declaring he had “lived an otherwise blameless life”.
Manafort could get a maximum of 10 years behind bars as the two charges he has plead guilty to – conspiracy against the US and obstruction of justice – carry five-year penalties.
Judge Jackson, a Barack Obama appointee, has found that Manafort infringed the terms of a plea deal with FBI special counsel Robert Mueller by lying to his prosecutors, the FBI and the grand jury, thereby freeing her from any obligation to recommend a reduced sentence.
The hearing may offer a window into tantalising allegations that aren’t part of the criminal cases against Manafort but have nonetheless surfaced in recent court filings – that he shared Trump campaign polling data with Konstantin Kilimnik, a business associate the US says has ties to Russian intelligence, and that the two men met secretly during the campaign in an encounter that prosecutors say cuts “to the heart” of their investigation.
CNN’s Stephen Collinson suggests, depending on the outcome, House speaker Nancy Pelosi will struggle to keep a lid on demands from her fellow Democrats that the president face impeachment proceedings. Ms Pelosi told The Washington Post on Monday she fears the process would be “too divisive” for America and that Donald Trump was “now worth it”.
Following the first sentencing last Thursday, the president said he felt “very badly” for Manafort and cited the matter as yet more evidence of the “Witch Hoax” against him.
“The judge said there was no collusion with Russia,” he told reporters on the White House lawn. This was incorrect. Judge Ellis merely said Manafort had not been accused of it in this instance.
Mr Trump has not ruled out the possibility of issuing a presidential pardon to his old ally and his press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders deflected a question on the matter at a rare briefing on Monday.
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