Trump's growing sympathies for Paul Manafort might signal a pardon: report

President Donald Trump is demanding that his White House staff and political allies join him in sticking up for Paul Manafort.

The president's thoughts on Manafort have evolved from claiming he barely worked for the campaign to protect him. According to the Daily Beast, now he's demanding others follow suit.

Sources close to Trump said that he never formed a rapport with

“I feel very badly for Paul Manafort and his wonderful family,” Trump said on Twitter, Aug. 2018. “‘Justice’ took a 12 year old tax case, among other things, applied tremendous pressure on him and, unlike Michael Cohen, he refused to ‘break’ - make up stories in order to get a ‘deal.’ Such respect for a brave man!”

Trump has pivoted his hate toward Michael Cohen, former mob prosecutor Rudy Giuliani called him a "rat" for outing Trump for indiscretions. Manafort became a hero.

“It’s good you got them [in the press] asking questions about Paul,” Trump told Giuliani last year. "For instance, the Trump attorney had alleged in November that Mueller and his team were treating 'Manafort like he’s a terrorist, incarcerating him before trial, solitary incarceration, and repeated questioning.”

After Manafort was given less than four years in prison for his guilty verdict, critics speculated whether Trump would walk into the White House press room and pardon Manafort directly after. The former Trump campaign chair faces another sentencing, where he might have ten years added to the sentence. It's possible the president is waiting to pardon Manafort after that.

“In sentencing financial crime and corruption defendants, Judge [Amy Berman] Jackson, a former federal prosecutor, historically has demonstrated a sensitivity to the concern that social status and privilege alone ought not warrant leniency,” said former U.S. federal prosecutor Paul Pelletier. He noted that Jackson isn't likely to take Manafort's previous sentence into account when issuing hers.

“I am sure that [she]… recognizes that most federal defendants can make that same argument and that wealthy defendants shouldn’t be the only people who benefit from it,” Pelletier said.

The special counsel's office announced in a status report that they were ready to move into sentencing former Manafort aide Rick Gates. It's been speculated that this could be the beginning of the end of the Mueller probe if sentences are authorized. For other cooperators, Mueller has held off on sentencing until he obtains all information necessary.

The Southern District of New York, however, continues to progress in their investigations into the Trump Foundation, Trump Inaugural Committee, and Trump Organization.