After pleading #guilty to #MoneyLaundering & #obstruction of #justice, Paul #Manafort, the globe-trotting #political consultant & former campaign chairman for #Trump, asked for leniency in his sentencing, telling a federal judge 5 yrs ago that he was nearly 70, struggling w/health concerns & remorseful for his actions.
The judge rejected his entreaties…, ordering #Manafort to remain behind bars for >7 yrs. <2 yrs later, however, Manafort’s #criminal record was wiped clean when #Trump#pardoned him among the dozens of allies, extended family members & fmr campaign staffers allowed to walk free. W/his freedom, Manafort hardly retired to a quiet home life. Instead, the longtime #power broker —briefly brought low by the investigation into #Russian#ElectionInterference— reengaged in international consulting.
#Manafort has been assisting an effort to launch a #Netflix-like mobile streaming & entertainment platform in #China that, acc/to corporate docs, has the endorsement of the Chinese government. In an email to The Post, Manafort said he was “not involved w/China” & has “had nothing to do w/China, including Chinese businesses, government, individuals, or anything else,” but acknowledged that he “was asked to make introductions to #US studios & potential US partners in the venture.”
#Manafort, now 75, also sought to advise #political figures in #Japan & #SouthKorea …. Manafort has roamed widely, traveling to #Guatemala last year on the invitation of a migrant advocacy group called Proyecto Guatemala Migrante. The group’s leader, Verónica Pimentel, said she & a colleague discussed Latin American politics & the #Latino#vote w/ Manafort & introduced him to a Guatemalan presidential candidate, Ricardo Sagastume, who confirmed the meeting.
Emails, documents & interviews fill in details of Manafort’s life & work between 2020, when he swapped #prison for home confinement owing to the COVID pandemic & then landed a #pardon from #Trump, & this #election cycle, as he prepares to reenter Trump’s orbit. Advisers say Trump is determined to hire #Manafort, likely handing him a substantial role at the #RNC in Milwaukee, #Wisconsin because he appreciates that his onetime campaign chairman has remained #loyal to him even while… in prison.