Thread by @ZoeTillman

Hello on this brisk morning from the federal courthouse in DC, where Paul Manafort is due at 9:30am for his second and final sentencing. He faces a maximum of 10 years in prison. On how things went at his first sentencing last week in Virginia: buzzfeednews.com/article/zoetil…

This Reuters cameraman staked out outside complained that I left him out of my courthouse picture today, so here he is (v. proud of his gear)

We're about 1.5 hours out from Manafort's sentencing, and so far I count 23 people waiting to get into the courtroom. The court has clearly marked the line parameters with ropes, a welcome change of scene from the *anarchy* of EDVA

(I'll be in the media room, not the courtroom, where we'll have a live video feed and can live-tweet)

We're 30 minutes out and the line outside the courtroom is at 60+ people (more joining every minute)

Manafort's lawyers are congregating in a hallway downstairs from the courtroom (just saw them as I was heading back to the media room.) The government lawyers and FBI agents have been gathering upstairs

We're 10 minutes out from Manafort's 9:30am sentencing hearing. The lawyers are getting settled in the courtroom, sipping water, milling around and greeting each other

Paul Manafort has entered the courtroom, he is wearing a dark suit, white shirt, and what appears to be a purple tie (the video feed isn't crystal clear). He's in a wheelchair, as he was for his Virginia sentencing

He was in a jail uniform for his Virginia sentencing, but the judge in DC issued an order in January saying Manafort would be allowed to wear a suit for future court appearances (his lawyers had made the request)

And we're off: US District Judge Amy Berman Jackson has taken the bench for Paul Manafort's sentencing hearing in DC

Jackson says there are two legal disputes re: the presentence report — whether Manafort should get credit for acceptance of responsibility, and whether there should be an enhancement for having a leadership role in the offense

Jackson notes the letters she received from Manafort's family and friends: "I appreciate all the letters and I've read them all."

Jackson makes clear that Manafort is not being sentenced today for the crimes he was convicted of, and sentenced for, last week in Virginia: This is not a "review or revision" of a sentence imposed by another court, she says

Important: Jackson notes that if a defendant already has been sentenced to prison for relevant conduct, the sentence now must be concurrent. So that applies to the tax and failure to report foreign bank account counts he was sentenced for in EDVA, but not the bank fraud

This means the sentence she imposes for the first count, which is a conspiracy charge which encompasses some of the crimes he was convicted of and sentenced for in EDVA, will have to account for the EDVA sentence in terms of how much of it runs concurrent (i.e. at the same time)

This issue re: what must run concurrent also doesn't apply to the second count Manafort pleaded guilty to in DC, conspiracy to interfere with witnesses. Each of the two counts he's being sentenced for today carries a maximum sentence of 10 years (5 years each)

Jackson rules that the enhancement for a leadership role should apply to Manafort: There were clearly more than five people involved, which is the standard (Gates, Kilimnik, people in PR/lobbying/law firm, etc.), and they don't all have to have criminal intent, the judge says

We're now on acceptance of responsibility. Jackson first addresses Manafort's motion to reconsider her finding that he lied about his interactions with Kilimnik, given Rick Gates later correcting his testimony. Jackson denied the motion, saying the record still shows he lied

Manafort's lawyer Tom Zehnle is arguing that Manafort did accept responsibility for the charged conduct, and that the lies the judge found he told based on the special counsel's evidence weren't related to the charges, but rather the special counsel's broader investigation

Zehnle notes that the judge did not find that the special counsel proved Manafort intentionally made false statements about Kilimnik's role in the witness tampering conspiracy, which was the only category that did directly relate to the charges in the case

Special counsel prosecutor Andrew Weissmann says there is case law outside of DC that says courts can consider conduct outside of the charged crimes in considering the acceptance of resp. issue, although there isn't case law out of DC

Jackson says that Manafort will get guidelines credit for acceptance of responsibility — she agrees with the govt that the court can look at conduct outside of the charged offense, but she says the underlying conduct is the "driving factor," and Manafort had admitted that

However, the judge says that there's also the broader question of whether Manafort accepted responsibility that is separate from the guidelines calculation, and she'll consider that later

Manafort's lawyer Kevin Downing asks Jackson to consider that the superseding information references the bank fraud, re: her consideration of what needs to run concurrent to the EDVA sentence. Jackson says bank fraud isn't encompassed in the fraud conspiracy count he pleaded to

Re: financial issues — Weissmann says the government is not arguing that a separate fine for Manafort is necessary. Manafort's lawyer Richard Westling says that they oppose the govt's request for an $11M money judgment

We're now on arguments from the lawyers about what sentence Manafort should get. Weissmann is up first: "We're here today because of crimes Paul Manafort committed for over a decade."

Re: the argument by Manafort's lawyers that Manafort has supported family and friends financially, Weissmann says: "That in other circumstances would be truly admirable, it is less so when it is done with other people’s money."

Weissmann stresses the importance of the Foreign Agents Regis. Act, saying the public and elected officials need to know what foreign govts are lobbying the US to do: "That law got in the way of Mr. Manafort. Secrecy was integral to what Mr. Manafort wanted to do for Ukraine."

Weissmann calls Manaforts violation of FARA "egregious," saying Manafort not only failed to report his work for Ukraine, but he had other companies involved conceal their role, created a sham group to serve as a "fig leaf," and then filed an "false and incomplete" report in 2017

Re: the witness tampering conspiracy, Weissmann says that it's a crime that goes to the "heart" of the justice system, and notes that Manafort tried to interfere with witnesses while he was already the subject of a prosecution

Weissmann, re: witness tampering: "That is not reflective of somebody who has learned a harsh lesson. It is not a reflection of remorse, it is evidence that something is wrong with sort of a moral compass, that somebody in that position would choose to make that decision."

Weissmann: "At each juncture, thought, Mr. Manafort chose to take a different path. He engaged in crime again and again, he has not learned a harsh lesson. He served to undermine, not promote, American ideals of honesty, transparency, and playing by the rules."

Weissmann finishes and does not ask for a specific sentence, in keeping with the pre-hearing sentencing memo from the government

Manafort's lawyer Kevin Downing is up. He begins by trying to distinguish Manafort's failure to register as an agent for Ukraine with other FARA cases by saying that Manafort's work for Ukraine wasn't a total secret, he was in touch with the State Department

Downing and Jackson are going back and forth re: Manafort being told he needed to file a FARA report early in 2017 — Downing says the FARA office has said its priority is to get people to file, not bring crim charges (though he acknowledges that's not an impediment to charges)

Downing says that when Manafort was questioned by the FBI a few years before the Mueller probe stepped in about his work for Ukraine, he identified some of his foreign bank accounts. The judge asks how many he did *not* identify. Downing says he doesn't know

Downing refers to the "political motivation" around the case. Jackson jumps in, asking what exactly he means by that. Downing says it was not directed at the prosecutors, but rather the general "media frenzy" around Manafort's case

Downing says the media attention has resulted in a "very harsh process" for Manafort, and he asks Jackson to take that into consideration. Downing: "But for a short stint as a campaign manager in a presidential election, I don't think we'd be here today," he says

Downing is done, he also does not advocate for a specific sentence for Manafort

Manafort atty Richard Westling briefly argues the guidelines are too high b/c of how the FARA violations interact w/ the money laundering. Jackson asks, weren't the guidelines also high in EDVA, where money laundering wasn't a factor, b/c of the amount of $ at issue? He says yes

After Tom Zehnle briefly addresses the witness tampering, noting the "gradations" in that kind of criminal activity, Paul Manafort is up now

Manafort says that he was perhaps not as clear about what was in his heart when he addressed the judge in Virginia: "I am sorry for what I've done and for all the activities that have gotten us here today."

Manafort says he's upset at the pain he's caused his family, and has "already begun to changje": "I stand here today to assure the court that I'm a different person from the one who came before you in October of 2017."

"I take responsibility for the consequences of these actions," Manafort says. He asks to not be separated from his wife for more than the 47 months he was sentenced to in Virginia

Manafort remained seated while he addressed the judge. This was more of an apology than what we saw in Virginia last week, and Manafort at the beginning addressed that issue, since the judge in Virginia expressed surprise he didn't hear more of that from Manafort

The judge is now taking a break, and we expect to resume at around 11:10/11:15

Judge Jackson is back on the bench for Paul Manafort's sentencing following a short recess, after hearing from Manafort, his lawyers, and the government

Manafort has been seated for the hearing in a wheelchair, but he stood up when Jackson came back

Jackson begins by saying the briefing and arguments have been marked by "passion" and "hyperbole": "This defendant is not public enemy number one. But he’s not a victim either."

Jackson says that notwithstanding inferences in the briefing, the question of whether or not there was a conspiracy or collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia is not before the court, "period."

Jackson: The case will not be an "indictment" or an "endorsement" of the special counsel, "nor does it fall to me to pass judgment on Paul Manafort as a human being"

Jackson says it would be "hard to overstate" the number of lies and the extent of the fraud, "and there is no good expalantion that would warrant the leniency requested"

Jackson: Why did Manafort do it? To sustain a lifestyle at the "most opulent and extravagant" level, the judge said — many houses for one family, and "more suits than one man can wear"

Re: Manafort's failure to report his work for Ukraine to the US government, Jackson says there was a deliberate effort to obscure his work and hide the truth. "If the people don't have the facts, democracy can’t work."

Re: witness tampering, Jackson says: "He pled guilty to conspiring to corruptly persuade another person — two people — with the intent to influence their testimony in an official proceeding. And which official proceding? This one. The case against Mr. Manafort himself."

Jackson said it seemed that Manafort was trying to downplay what he did in reaching out to witnesses, and that gave her concern about his acceptance of responsibility

Jackson: The back and forth early on about Manafort's assets and whether he could post enough to be free pending trial appeared to reflect Manafort's "contempt for and his belief he had the right to manipulate these proceedings" and that court orders and rules didn't apply to him

Re: Manafort's cooperation, Jackson said while he did sit for sessions and provide information: "But the problem is that the defendant’s own conduct makes it difficult to assess the value of the information that he did provide.”

The judge acknowledged the letters from Manafort's family, and said that it was unfortunately true that incarceration can tear apart a family — but she said that's true for everyone, and "this is a family that has the means to sustain itself in the interim."

Jackson said she appreciated Manafort's comments today, but found it "striking" he chose not to write something to her in advance of sentencing, which she said many defendants have done, incl. those who haven't finished high school or who don't speak English as a first langauge

Remorse was "completely absent" from Manafort's sentencing submissions, the judge said, and she disapprovingly noted the effort to argue that it was only because the special counsel got involved that Manafort faced criminal charges

The judge slams Manafort and his lawyers for making the "unsubstantiated" claim that Manafort was only charged by Mueller's office because they couldn't charge him with anything related to the campaign. "The noncollusion mantra is simply a non sequitor"

Jackson: "The defendant's insistence that none of this should be happening to him… that the prosecution is misguided and excessive and invalid ... is just one more thing that is inconsistent with a genuine acceptance of responsibilty."

Jackson noted that both she and Ellis found that the charges against Manafort did fall within the special counsel's jurisdiction

She criticized Manafort's lawyers for making unsupported arguments that other defendants in the Mueller probe got shorter sentences because the judges in those cases recognized they weren't about Mueller's core mandate: "It’s hard to understand why an attorney would write that."

The judge says Manafort overstated the severity of his pretrial confinement: "At bottom, the defendant was not in the SHU." She notes he had a window, access to radio/newspapers/TV, and was released for a little time each day. He was in protective custody for his safety, she said

Jackson: "Mr. Manafort, I don’t want to belititle or minimize the discomfort of prison for you. It is hard on everyone, young and old, rich and poor."

Jackson says 30 months of her sentence must be concurrent with the EDVA sentence, because the tax and reporting crimes were covered in both cases (and in EDVA he got 24 months for the tax crimes and 30 months for the reporting crime, to run concurrent)

Jackson says the witness tampering count warrants a consecutive sentence, but the full five-year maximum is too much

BREAKING: Paul Manafort has been sentenced to:
- Count 1: 60 months, with 30 months concurrent with EDVA sentence
- Count 2: 13 months, to run consecutive to count 1 and the EDVA sentence

NOW: After two sentencings, Paul Manafort will spend nearly seven years in prison —that's 47 months from his Virginia case, plus 43 months out of DC, with credit for the nine months he's already spent in detention buzzfeednews.com/article/zoetil…

When it rain, it pours: Manhattan DA Cyrus Vance just announced that a grand jury indicted Manafort on new charges related to a residential mortgage fraud scheme — the indictment appears to cover conduct Manafort was charged with in his Virginia case buzzfeednews.com/article/zoetil…

What a day: Less than an hour after Paul Manafort was sentenced in DC, closing out special counsel Robert Mueller's prosecutions, Manhattan DA Cyrus Vance hit Manafort with a whole new slate of state charges buzzfeednews.com/article/zoetil…

I have exclusive video of the media room at the DC courthouse after the judge announced Paul Manafort's sentence today (see: buzzfeednews.com/article/zoetil…)

The Manhattan DA's office announced a new indictment against Paul Manafort less than an hour after Manafort was sentenced in federal court today. Why does this matter? A presidential pardon can't apply to state crimes buzzfeednews.com/article/zoetil…

Just catching up on the news of the day?

Manafort is going to prison for nearly seven years for the charges brought by Mueller's offce: buzzfeednews.com/article/zoetil…

And now there are new charges out of NY, which wouldn't be covered by a presidential pardon: buzzfeednews.com/article/zoetil…