Paul Manafort

Paul John Manafort Jr. (born April 1, 1949)^[3] is an American lobbyist, political consultant, lawyer and convicted felon. He joined Donald Trump's presidential campaign team in March 2016 and served as campaign manager from June to August 2016. He was an adviser to the U.S. presidential campaigns of Republicans Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, and Bob Dole.

Paul Manafort
Manafort speaks with media prior to the 2016 Republican National Convention.
Born	Paul John Manafort Jr. (1949-04-01) April 1, 1949 (age 76) New Britain, Connecticut, U.S.
Education	Georgetown University (BS, JD)
Political party	Republican
Criminal status	Found guilty on 8 counts; pleaded guilty to counts of conspiracy; scheduled to be sentenced on February 8, 2019 or March 5, 2019[1][2]
Spouse	Kathleen Bond ​ (m. 1978)​
Children	2
Criminal charge	Five counts of tax fraud, two counts of bank fraud, and one count of failing to disclose a hidden foreign bank account; two counts of conspiracy

On August 22, 2018, Manafort was convicted of bank and tax fraud.^[4]

In 1980, Manafort co-founded the Washington, D.C.-based lobbying firm Black, Manafort & Stone, along with principals Charles R. Black Jr., and Roger Stone.^[5][6][7]

FBI Investigation

Manafort is under investigation by multiple federal agencies. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has reportedly had an active criminal investigation on him since 2014 regarding business dealings in Ukraine. He is also a person of interest in the FBI counterintelligence probe looking into the Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections led by Robert Mueller.^[8][9]

Arrest

Paul Manafort greeting Gerald Ford

Manafort with Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush

On October 30, 2017, Manafort surrendered to the FBI after news broke that a federal grand jury had indicted him.^[10] They charged Manafort with conspiracy against the United States, conspiracy to launder money, failure to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts, being an unregistered agent of foreign principal, false and misleading FARA statements, and false statements.^[11]

On June 15, 2018, Manafort's bail was revoked and he was sent to jail due to charges of obstruction of justice and witness tampering that is alleged to have occurred while he was under house arrest. He pled not guilty to these additional charges and as of June 2018 is currently awaiting trial.

Conviction

On Tuesday, August 21, 2018, Manafort was convicted of five counts of tax fraud, two counts of bank fraud and one count of failure to report foreign bank accounts. In total, the jury convicted Manafort on 8 of the 18 counts against him and said it was deadlocked on the other 10 counts (U.S. District Judge T. S. Ellis III declared a mistrial on those charges).^[12][4]