Paul Manafort, having received a surprisingly low sentence last week from a judge in Virginia last week, will face another sentencing hearing on Wednesday that could add up to 10 years on to his 47-month prison term.
But even after the second sentence comes down, the former campaign chair for President Donald Trump will have a remaining hope to avoid prison time: a presidential pardon. Former CIA Director John Brennan argued Monday on MSNBC that Trump will certainly pardon Manafort, even if it doesn’t happen immediately.
“Personally, I don’t have any doubt that Mr. Trump is going to pardon Paul Manafort at some point,” Brennan said. “The question is when. But then if he’s also convicted of state charges, Donald Trump is not going to be able to pardon him for that. So I do believe Paul Manafort will be able to get out of the federal charges because — what does Donald Trump have to lose if he pardons him?”
View the complete March 11 article by Cody Fenwick on the AlterNet website here.