美国国家公共电台 NPR Jury Finds Paul Manafort Guilty In Federal Tax And Bank Fraud Trial

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RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

All morning, we're bringing you the latest on two major court cases connected to President Donald Trump¹. The president's former lawyer pleaded guilty to eight charges yesterday. They included illegal payments to keep two women from talking about affairs they claim to have had with Trump. Within minutes of that plea, a jury convicted former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort on eight tax and fraud charges. The jury was unable to reach a unanimous decision on 10 other counts. The president responded to the cases on Twitter this morning, accusing Cohen of making up stories for a plea deal and calling Manafort a brave man. NPR's national justice correspondent Carrie Johnson is with us to talk through the Manafort verdict and what comes next from that. Good morning, Carrie.

CARRIE JOHNSON, BYLINE²: Hey, Rachel.

MARTIN: So the jury in this case deliberated for nearly four days, but they couldn't come to a consensus³ on all these charges. What happened?

JOHNSON: So this was a heavy case. Remember, 27 witnesses, 388 exhibits, lots of testimony⁴ about tax returns and foreign bank accounts in Cyprus. It's not a huge surprise this jury couldn't decide 10 of the charges. Mostly, they couldn't decide on the bank fraud counts. But they did convict on all the charges against Paul Manafort that involve filing false tax returns. They convicted on one count of failing to file a foreign bank account report and two counts of bank fraud. That's no small thing. This guy was the chairman of President Trump's campaign during a crucial period in 2016. He's now been convicted of multiple felonies.

MARTIN: So what about those parts, those counts that the jury couldn't reach a consensus on?

JOHNSON: The judge says prosecutors⁵ have until August 29 to tell the judge whether they want a new trial on those 10 counts or to just let it slide. There is reason to believe they may let it slide. Paul Manafort is 69 years old and he's sentenced on those eight convictions already that could send him to prison for the rest of his life. And Manafort faces another trial related to his foreign lobbying work and alleged⁶ money laundering⁷ in Washington, D.C., next month. Manafort's lawyer says when it comes to these Virginia convictions, he's evaluating all his options now.

MARTIN: You were inside the courtroom for the verdict. What was the atmosphere like?

JOHNSON: Yeah. Lots of U.S. marshals and court security officers showed up to monitor the doors. Paul Manafort stood up. He blinked slowly several times as those first three guilty verdicts were read. Otherwise, he didn't show much emotion. And, you know, Paul Manafort was very careful in the course of this trial. He, on several days, did not wear socks because the jail was giving him white socks to wear with his dark shoes, and he didn't like it. So the notion that this guy is now facing seven to 10 years in prison when he's so proud is really quite something. The jurors were excused. Before they left, they looked very tired. They'd been at this case for 16 long days. When it was all over, the government lawyers shook hands with all the defense⁸ lawyers, kind of like a baseball game, but a really somber⁹ one.

MARTIN: So at the same time, President Trump keeps calling the overall Russia probe a witch hunt. Last night in West Virginia, he took the opportunity to praise Paul Manafort. He said he's sad about what's happened to him. He said Paul Manafort is a good man. And he also said, where's the collusion? This special counsel investigation¹⁰ was supposed to be about Russian collusion - where's the collusion? I mean, he was right. This wasn't - they didn't find any evidence of collusion in this.

JOHNSON: This case was not supposed to be about links to Russia. In fact, the judge in this case prohibited the government and the defense from really going deeply into Russia or even using the word oligarch in the course of this trial. But it's hard to call this proceeding¹¹ a witch hunt when Paul Manafort has been convicted on eight felony charges and faces more in D.C. next month. You know, this case could still end in a political way with a pardon from President Trump. I know that people on Capitol Hill were concerned about that yesterday. And there's reason to believe it may happen. One of the people in Manafort's corner is a longtime lawyer named Richard Hibey, a trusted adviser¹² to Manafort for years. Hibey showed up during this trial. Interestingly enough, he has a reputation for being able to get pardons for some of his high-profile clients. Back in the Iran-Contra scandal, he represented a higher-up in the CIA who eventually, two weeks after his conviction, was pardoned by then-President George H.W. Bush. So it is still possible. It's also possible Paul Manafort, after all this, could wind up cooperating with the government.

MARTIN: NPR justice correspondent Carrie Johnson unpacking¹³ the Paul Manafort conviction. Thanks so much.

JOHNSON: Thank you.