Trump's indicted former campaign manager Paul Manafort heads to jail

Paul Manafort, the former manager of Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign who keeps racking up criminal charges, is heading to jail.

On Friday, a judge revoked Manafort’s bail because he had “abused” the cushy arrangement the court gave him six months ago, when he was first charged.

Manafort has been indicted for a slew of crimes, including conspiracy, money laundering, false statements, and failure to disclose foreign assets, and tax and bank fraud charges.

And then he got hit with even more last week, when special counsel Robert Mueller brought additional charges against him and a longtime associate, Konstantin Kilimnik, who just happens to be a Russian-Ukrainian operative with suspected ties to Russian intelligence.

The two men were charged with obstructing justice and conspiracy to obstruct justice through “witness tampering.”

In addition to all of the shady, sleazy, and illegal activities for which Trump’s former campaign manager has been indicted, his activities as part of the 2016 Trump campaign have also been part of multiple investigations.

For example, Manafort was in the infamous 2016 meeting at Trump Tower, along with Trump’s son Donald Jr. and son-in-law Jared Kushner, where they tried to obtain dirt on Hillary Clinton from Russian operatives.

While several other Trump associates and advisers have already pleaded guilty, Manafort is holding out, presumably because he thinks he might get a pardon from Trump. And Trump hasn’t ruled that out.

Incredibly, Trump claimed earlier in the day that his former campaign manager “has nothing to do with our campaign.” While they might be accurate now, Manafort was the campaign manager for Trump’s 2016 campaign.

Of course, this kind of absurd dismissal is standard operating procedure. Trump and his apologists have used this same excuse for everyone in his circle who has been indicted and pleaded guilty, insisting they they didn’t really have anything to do with the Trump campaign.

Manafort obviously was very involved in the campaign, though. In addition to being part of the small group of top Trump advisers and family members who tried to get Russia’s dirt on Clinton, he was the campaign manager. And it was Manafort who handpicked Mike Pence to be Trump’s running mate and ultimate vice president.

Manafort certainly knows a lot about Trump, his family, and his campaign. But so far, he isn’t talking. Maybe spending some time in jail will loosen his lips.

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.