An attorney for Paul Manafort criticized the special counsel’s office for “selective prosecution” of the former Trump campaign chairman.
Manafort attorney Richard Westling said the banks never reported the alleged fraud charges lodged against his client “until the special counsel showed up and started asking questions.”
Mr. Westling accused prosecutors working for special counsel Robert Mueller of “selectively pulling” Mr. Manafort’s financial records to “concoct a narrative.”
“Clearly their goal … was to stack up the counts,” he said.
Mr. Westling also claimed Mr. Mueller’s team has turned a trivial mistake Mr. Manafort made on a bank form into a major case.
Mr. Manafort misrepresented his income on loan documents, an act his attorneys have portrayed as an honest mistake.
That point was emphasized by Mr. Westling, who said people typically “don’t get prosecuted by Department of Justice prosecutors.”
“If this were fraud, we would have courtrooms across the county filed with bank fraud cases,” he said.
• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.
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