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Trump Campaign Manager Paul #Manafort arrived in Judge Ellis’ courtroom in Eastern District of Virginia in a green jumpsuit, walking with a cane. He will be sentenced in a few minutes on 8 counts of financial crimes. He also awaits sentencing in DC by Judge Amy Berman Jackson. 
The guy who promised the best people and "extreme vetting"—didn't even google Paul #Manafort?? Remember that when Trump apologists say he didn't know about Manafort's years of dirty work for world tyrants. I've always felt Trump hired him BECAUSE of his work for Putin & Russians.
BTW the last pro-Russia authoritarian that #Manafort helped attain power was on trial for treason at the same time as Manafort's trial for which he's being sentenced today. Found guilty in abstentia, Ukraine's disgraced prez Yanukovych now lives in Russia.
CNN reports #Manafort, in a wheelchair at sentencing, wasn’t remorseful but asked for compassion. Judge tells him that the sentencing guidelines (17-22 years) are “excessive in your case” because “you’ve lived an otherwise blameless life.” Wow, people in Ukraine beg to differ!!
FYI #Manafort's "blameless life": Manafort helped ousted #Putin puppet #Yanukovych move $700,000,000 million between 2008-2014. A staggering 💰$40 BILLION💰was stolen from #Ukraine in total. buzzfeednews.com/article/tanyak…
#Manafort’s utter contempt for the law was ignored by Judge Ellis, handing down an extremely light sentence of 47 months. Nonetheless, Trump’s campaign chairman is going to jail. And this is the 1 of 2 sentences. Next week’s judge may not feel as sorry for the “Alexandria Inmate”
'American injustice': Internet explodes after #Manafort gets 'very rich, very white' slap-on-the-wrist jail sentence by 78-year-old Reagan-appointed judge rawstory.com/2019/03/americ…
🔥@BarbMcQuade: Judge Ellis' major departure from the sentencing guidelines for #Manafort undermines our criminal justice system. The guidelines are based on actual data & are designed to prevent disparity in sentencing, to ensure fairness wherever a crime is adjudicated. #Maddow
@BarbMcQuade #Maddow: McQuade called #Manafort's 47-month sentence an "absurdly low departure" from the 19-24 years in sentencing guidelines. She eloquently explained they're not binding but exist to give statistically sound baseline for judges to sentence people in like ways for like crimes.
"Otherwise blameless life" about #Manafort is infuriating. Judge Ellis knows he worked for kleptocrats, despots, the torturer's lobby. Letting *that guy* off easy—when caught in a crime spree—spits on US rule of law. It's a shameful refusal to see the corrosiveness of corruption.
Judge Says #Manafort Led An 'Otherwise Blameless Life.' His Resume Says Otherwise. yahoo.com/huffpost/judge…
Days ago I noted #Manafort's brief read like disinformation—painting work for corrupt despots as "promoting democratic values." Did Judge Ellis really buy THAT as "an otherwise blameless life"? Or does he not see corruption as harmful? Or is he just a GOP partisan? All troubling.
Even more shocking than Judge Ellis' short sentence for a long list of crimes, is his whitewashing Manafort's odious work with dreadful despots as "an otherwise blameless life." Thanks to @FranklinFoer ("the man" on Manafort) for showing the absurdity of that characterization.⬇️
