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State Charges Against Manafort Dismissed by Judge in New York State Charges Against Manafort Dismissed by Judge in New York
(about 1 hour later)
A judge threw out state charges against Paul J. Manafort, President Trump’s former campaign chairman, on Wednesday, dealing a setback to efforts by the Manhattan district attorney to ensure Mr. Manafort will still face prison time if Mr. Trump pardons him for his federal crimes.A judge threw out state charges against Paul J. Manafort, President Trump’s former campaign chairman, on Wednesday, dealing a setback to efforts by the Manhattan district attorney to ensure Mr. Manafort will still face prison time if Mr. Trump pardons him for his federal crimes.
Mr. Manafort had been charged in Manhattan with mortgage fraud and more than a dozen other state felonies. But Justice Maxwell Wiley of State Supreme Court dismissed the indictment, saying the charges violated the legal principle of double jeopardy, which holds that a defendant may not be tried twice for the same conduct. Mr. Manafort had been charged in Manhattan with mortgage fraud and more than a dozen other state felonies. But Justice Maxwell Wiley of the State Supreme Court in Manhattan dismissed the indictment, saying the charges violated the legal principle of double jeopardy, which holds that a defendant may not be tried twice for the same conduct.
The district attorney, Cyrus R. Vance Jr., had brought the charges in March 2019, shortly after Mr. Manafort was sentenced in federal court, where he was convicted of conspiracy and tax and bank fraud in two cases that had been prosecuted by the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III. The district attorney, Cyrus R. Vance Jr., had brought the charges in March 2019, shortly after Mr. Manafort was sentenced in federal court, where he had been convicted of conspiracy and tax and bank fraud in two cases that had been prosecuted by the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III.
The 16-count indictment Mr. Vance obtained from a state grand jury accused Mr. Manafort, 70, of falsifying business records to obtain millions of dollars in loans. It grew out of an investigation that began in 2017, when the Manhattan prosecutors began looking at loans Mr. Manafort received from two banks. The 16-count indictment Mr. Vance obtained from a state grand jury accused Mr. Manafort, 70, of falsifying business records to obtain millions of dollars in loans. It grew out of an investigation that began in 2017, when the Manhattan prosecutors began examining loans Mr. Manafort received from two banks.
Mr. Manafort’s lawyers had argued that the state charges should be dismissed because they involved some of the same allegations that had been made in the federal cases. Defense lawyers argued the factual overlap between the federal and state cases was extensive.
Justice Wiley agreed. “Basically, the law of double jeopardy in New York State provides a very narrow window for prosecution,” he said during a short hearing before releasing a 26-page written decision.
Mr. Manafort did not appear in court on Wednesday. He has been hospitalized since last week after suffering a cardiac ailment while serving seven and a half years in federal prison in Pennsylvania.
Mr. Vance’s office said it would challenge the judge’s ruling.
“We will appeal today’s decision and will continue working to ensure that Mr. Manafort is held accountable for the criminal conduct against the people of New York that is alleged in the indictment,” said Danny Frost, a spokesman for Mr. Vance’s office.
Mr. Vance announced the charges against Mr. Manafort in March, just minutes after he was sentenced in the second of the two federal cases. The move was widely seen as intended to ensure Mr. Manafort would still face charges if the president pardoned him.
“No one is above the law in New York,” Mr. Vance said at the time, adding that his investigation “yielded serious criminal charges for which the defendant has not been held accountable.”
Mr. Trump has never said he intended to pardon his former campaign chairman. But he has often spoken of his power to pardon and has defended Mr. Manafort on a number of occasions, calling him a “brave man.”
Mr. Manafort’s lawyer, Todd Blanche, praised the judge’s decision.
“We have said since the day this indictment was made public that it was politically motivated and violated New York’s statutory double jeopardy law,” Mr. Blanche said in a statement on Wednesday. “Today’s decision is a stark reminder that the law and justice should always prevail over politically motivated actions.”
The charges against Mr. Manafort stemmed from allegations that between December 2015 and January 2017, he obtained mortgages from three different financial institutions on four residential properties he owned by submitting false documentation. Manhattan prosecutors accused him of defrauding the institutions of more than $20 million.
Prosecutors also said Mr. Manafort fraudulently obtained a $1 million line of credit from Banc of California by falsifying documents.
Some critics saw the case against Mr. Manafort as politically motivated, noting that Mr. Vance, a liberal Democrat, was targeting a member of President Trump’s inner circle.
In August 2018, a federal jury convicted Mr. Manafort of using foreign accounts to hide millions of dollars from his political consulting work in Ukraine, of tax fraud and of lying to banks to obtain millions of dollars in loans. The charges issued by Mr. Vance’s office were based on some of those same loans, which were issued by Citizens Bank in Rhode Island and Federal Savings Bank in Chicago.