COURTS/LEGAL/PARDONS/PAUL MANAFORT/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Paul J. Manafort, President Trump’s former campaign manager, was escorted into a courtroom on Thursday [6-27-19] to face state fraud charges that the Manhattan district attorney has brought in an effort to ensure Mr. Manafort could still face prison time even if he is pardoned for his federal crimes. Appearing in New York State Supreme Court on Thursday, Mr. Manafort, who once wore designer suits and commanded lucrative fees as a political consultant, wore navy blue scrubs, a loose brown belt and white sneakers, his hands shackled at his waist. He walked with a slight limp and had to be helped as he got into his seat. ‘Not guilty,’ he said when asked how he pleaded to the charges in a 16-count indictment that he falsified business records and engaged in a conspiracy to fraudulently obtain millions of dollars in loans for several residential properties in New York. Mr. Manafort has been serving a seven-and-a-half-year sentence at a federal prison in Pennsylvania after being convicted of tax and bank fraud in two cases stemming from Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.”
–Sharon Otterman, “Manafort Pleads Not Guilty to N.Y. Charges Designed to Thwart a Trump Pardon,” The New York Times online, June 27, 2019