Aug 21, 2018
A federal jury in Virginia convicted Paul Manafort, President Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman, on eight counts of bank and tax fraud on Tuesday, but a mistrial was declared in the 10 other charges he faced.
The trial was the first public test of special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation so far, and while the government was vindicated, the victory wasn’t total.
The jury deliberated for four days after hearing 12 days of arguments, evidence and witnesses. Mueller’s team buried the defendant in an avalanche of emails, tax returns, bank documents, and the damning testimony of bankers, accountants, and Manafort's onetime protégé, Rick Gates. The defense sought to raise doubts about Gates' credibility and about other aspects of the evidence, and was partially successful.
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Aug 21, 2018
BREAKING: Trump's former personal lawyer Michael Cohen reaches plea deal with federal prosecutors
Michael Cohen will plead guilty to charges related to bank fraud, tax fraud and a campaign finance violation, stemming from a federal investigation in New York, multiple sources familiar with the matter tell NBC News. A hearing in the Cohen case has been scheduled at federal court in Manhattan for 4 p.m. Tuesday.
Prosecutors were investigating Cohen in relation to Cohen's taxi business — and whether the hush-money payments he arranged with women who claimed they'd had sexual encounters with President Donald Trump amount to violations of campaign finance law.
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