Manafort's post-conviction pardon prevents New York from bringing state charges: appeals court

Republican strategist Paul Manafort will escape legal accountability in state court after being pardoned by Donald Trump.

"The Manhattan district attorney's attempt to prosecute former President Donald Trump's 2016 campaign chairman was dealt a final blow when New York's highest court said quietly last week it would not review lower court rulings on the case," The New York Times reported Monday. "The court's decision brings to an end the district attorney's quest to ensure that the campaign chairman, Paul J. Manafort, will face state charges for mortgage fraud and other state felonies, crimes similar to those for which he was convicted in federal court and then pardoned by Mr. Trump."

Manafort also worked on the presidential campaigns of Republicans Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush and Bob Dole.

"When the district attorney, Cyrus R. Vance Jr., a Democrat, first brought charges against Mr. Manafort in March 2019, it was widely understood that he was doing so to make sure that Mr. Manafort would face prosecution even if Mr. Trump decided to pardon him," The Times reported. "At the time, Mr. Manafort was serving a sentence of seven and a half years in a Pennsylvania federal prison after being convicted at a 2018 financial fraud trial by prosecutors working for the special counsel Robert S. Mueller III."

Read the full report.